The Fox and the Sloth
by captainkodak1
Summary: This is a continuation of a story started by Frederick Aloysius. We cooperated for a few chapters then stopped updating.  I thought I would pick up the story again and keep it going.  I hope you enjoy the story.
1. Chapter 1

**The Fox and the Sloth**

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This is a story started by the fine author Frederick Aloysius. He wrote several chapters, and then stopped updating the story. After sometime he posted that he wished someone to help him with the story. I sent a message that I would be willing to help and we got together over the story. We posted three chapters before things seemed to end. I have tried to contact him on a number of occasions and have not received any replies. So I am restarting the story here on my site. Let's hope that the third time will be the charm.

If you haven't seen the story before then you might want to read the starting chapters on his site and the chapters we produced together under the name GJAGENTS. Then come on back here. The story will be waiting. Just use the search function and enter "The Fox and the Sloth." The search should bring up all of the parts of the story.

If you are new to the story and want a quick rundown, scroll to the bottom and I'll leave a little summary to get you up to speed.

* * *

Kim opened the door to the refrigerator and pulled out a can of coke. It had only been a few days since she and Ron had made their way back from the mission to Turkey. Covington and several analysts were going over the data that she had taken from Big Daddy's computer. There were little in the news over the incidents only that some sporadic gunfire had been heard off the cliffs of one of the large estates in the area. Anna had delivered them to the HMS Gloucester and the crew had taken them onboard for a quick medical check and a very long debriefing. After what seemed to be several hours they were released to get a shower, eat and get some rest. They stayed aboard the Gloucester until it was back into Mediterranean Sea, then a short helicopter flight into Rome and then back to London. Covington gave them a couple of weeks off dependent on what the data she had downloaded showed. They had been laying around the flat for the past couple of days letting the stress of the mission wear off. Now both of them were getting itchy to do something. Ron stepped into the kitchen area with the local paper.

"Hey look at this. One of the art museums in Paris is holding a show of new artists. There are artists from the U.S. and around the world displaying their works. I thought we could shoot over there, taken in the show and maybe let you do some shopping."

Kim thought for a moment and smiled.

"Sounds good to me Henry, let's get packed for a few days and catch a normal flight. I don't see the need on bothering Wade. Maybe we can catch a show or something too. I promise that we can go by your favorite cooking shop and have dinner on the Eiffel Tower."

Ron's face broke out into a big smile.

"That is so cool Karen. Let's get going."

Kim stopped for a moment. Ron glanced over at her.

"Something wrong?"

Kim shook her head.

"No, not really. It's just the way you just said "That is so cool." It reminds me of…."

Ron stepped over and put his arms around her. While it had been over four years since they had "died", they could not completely forget their past lives. Sometimes the most innocent things would bring those memories ever so painful back into their lives. Kim held on to him for a few minutes then pulled away.

"Why don't you go ahead and get online, get our tickets and reservations. I'll pack while you are doing that. Do you want to stay in the same place?"

Ron thought for a moment.

"I'll look around and see what I can get the best deal on and let you know."

Kim nodded as she headed for the bedroom and he turned to sit down at the computer.

* * *

There was a cool breeze blowing across the balcony to their room. Kim rubbed her arms slightly as she looked out over the city. They were staying in the Hotel De Crillon, which is a little pricey but not out of their range. Ron had gotten a good deal on the rates and it was one of the nicer hotels in the city. Ron's voice came from inside the room.

"Hey Karen, come on. The doorman is calling us a taxi so we can get to the museum. The concierge got the tickets for us and reservations for dinner on the tower."

Kim turned back into the room and closed the door to the balcony behind her. Ron handed her the jacket she had chosen for the evening. It was not exactly elegant but went with the dress she was wearing. Ron was decked out in a very nice suit and settled on his frame very well. She was sure that he would be catching several female eyes over the evening. Ron helped her into her jacket and picked up her purse and handed it to her.

A short taxi ride later they were handing their tickets to the person at the door of the museum. Both of them picked up guide to the exhibit and made their way inside. Soon they were making their way through the displays of the up and coming artists. The works were impressive from sculpture to modern art. Kim and Ron made their way through the works when Kim came to an abrupt stop. Ron bumped into her from behind and was going to ask what was going on until he got a look at the picture she was just starting to point out. It was a picture of the fountain in Middleton Park, the same fountain that bore the name of the Team Possible fountain and was in front of a bronze statue of the two of them. Kim looked up at Ron almost in a panic. They had not even been back to the U.S. They looked around the rest of the exhibit of this artist. Some of the works were from different sites in Middleton. But the one that REALLY got their attention was a work that appeared to be the center of the exhibit. It was a picture of the two of them, just before the incident that so completely changed their lives. In the picture they were standing side by side in their mission clothes. A voice that was vaguely familiar came to their ears from nearby.

"Oh yes, my husband and I grew up with Kim and Ron. He was dating Kim when she and Ron were killed on that last mission. Kim and I were on the cheer team together with Ron who was the school mascot. I SO had a crush on him."

Kim and Ron turned to see Tara standing about 20 feet away talking to some people looking at the picture. Tara turned at that moment and looked at them. The three of them looked at each other for a moment. Before Kim and Ron could move Tara's eyes rolled back into her head and she fainted into the arms of the people around her. Kim and Ron spun and ran from the room as several people screamed. A blonde haired figure ran past them into the room as they left. They walked quickly back through the exhibit and out the door. They found the nearest metro station and hopped on the first train they could get on. After making a number of changes of trains they left the metro station and took the first taxi back to the hotel.

After they reached the room they hurriedly started to pack. Kim picked up her phone and dialed a very seldom used number. So unused that only four people in the world knew what it was. Those four people were the two of them, Covington and the driver that helped them on occasion. They were only to call that number under certain circumstances and this was one of those circumstances. They had been briefed about what to do if by some incredible circumstance that they ran into someone from their past. The first thing would be to get out of the area. The second would be to call that number. Covington's voice came over the phone before the second ring.

"What is the problem?"

Kim took a quick breath.

"Broken camera, we have a broken camera."

Kim heard the muted curse over the phone. There was some muttering on the other end and a muted answer, and then his voice came back.

"Report."

Kim composed herself.

"Henry and I are in Paris. We wanted to take in some shows and have dinner. We also wanted to take in an art show that I had heard about. We did the normal checks before we went in. As we were going through the show we noticed that one of the artists had painted scenes from our hometown. One of the works was a portrait of the two of us in high school. Before we even realized what was happening we heard a familiar voice. We both looked over and saw a girl we knew from home. She saw us and apparently recognized us. Before we could move she apparently fainted. We used the commotion to get out of there. We used the standard procedure to get out of the area. We are back at the hotel right now."

Kim looked over at Ron as he brought their bags back into the main room. He was already changing into street clothes. Covington was silent for a moment.

"Did she ever say anything or call out your names?"

Kim shook head.

"No sir, at least not while we were there. We didn't wait. We just followed procedure."

Covington was silent for a moment.

"Okay, get out of there right now and get back to London. Keep doing what you are doing. Just get out of there."

Kim whimpered.

"I am so sorry sir."

Covington's voice softened.

"It's okay Karen. We can't anticipate everything. Something like this can happen whatever the odds. You did what you were trained to do. Now just get back here. Just check out and leave. Report to me the minute you get back."

Kim sighed.

"Okay sir. We will see you back in the office."

Kim snapped her phone shut.

"He said to get out of here and get back to London by the earliest transportation."

Ron nodded.

"I thought so. While you change I'll call the desk and explain we have an emergency and have to leave."

Kim nodded as she walked into the bedroom as she pulled at the straps to her dress.

* * *

Josh held onto to Tara's hand as she lay on a couch in an office to the museum. The security and museum staff had handled the situation quickly and efficiently. Tara gazed into her husband's eyes.

"I saw them Josh! I would SWEAR it was them. I know that they are supposed to be dead but I KNOW what I saw. I grew up with both of them and I KNOW Kim Possible and Ron Stoppable. They were both standing there at the entrance to your exhibit."

Josh brushed the hair out of her face.

"Honey, I knew I should not have brought that piece of the two of them. It seems to cause problems every time I bring it out. Either it brings up some bad memories or something else happens."

Tara sighed.

"Josh, I KNOW what and WHO I saw. I know it has been over four years but it had to be them. Kim looked…she looked like she always did just older. She was beautiful! Ron…at first I wasn't sure it was him but he was…."

Josh put his finger on her lips to silence her.

"Now, we both know what happened to the two of them. Maybe it was someone dressed like them. You know people have tried that before at one of my shows. Besides, you need to calm down. You are carrying a little passenger."

Tara smiled wanly and placed her hands on her stomach.

"Yeah, you are right. Maybe this was one of those things that happen when a girl is expecting. I knew the morning sickness was coming but I didn't think I would start seeing things."

Josh leaned over and gave her a kiss.

"Yeah, I know. I think I'll leave that painting behind next time."

Tara shook her head.

"You will do no such thing. It honors them every time you bring it out. Let's just keep it a part of the exhibit. It means everything to me and I know it does you. Don't lie to me that you still have feelings for Kim. You two were hot and heavy when you lost her."

Josh bowed his head.

"Yeah, you are right there, just like you were holding a flame for Ron so let's put all this behind us and chalk it all up to your hormones."

Tara giggled.

"Just remember buster it was YOUR hormones that got me into this."

They burst out laughing as a couple of EMTs entered the office.

* * *

Kim and Ron sat in front of Covington's desk in his office. They had arrived early that morning after flying in from Paris that evening. Neither one of them had had much sleep. Now they waited for Covington to arrive. He was talking with a number of people just outside of the door. After a few moments he came into his office and sat down at his desk.

"Karen, Henry, you did a good job clearing the area and getting back here. Our other agents have checked on a number of things. One, the young lady who fainted was one Tara Matthews Mankey, wife of one Josh Mankey. Now I don't have to say much more than that because I know both of those names are very familiar to you. Now, I have found out that Mrs. Mankey is expecting and the doctors believe that the vision she thought she saw was just a wild side effect of being pregnant. Now, I obtained a brochure from the museum. I wanted to see if you had checked the list before you entered the museum."

Kim and Ron looked at each other and sat up a little straighter in their seats. Kim's eyes lit up with fire.

"Sir, we followed protocol and…."

Covington held up his hand.

"Karen, it is part of the investigation. You two would not be the first agents to let something like this slip. BUT, as I was saying BEFORE I was interrupted."

He paused for a moment as he stared at Kim. She stared just as hard back but didn't say anything.

"I checked the list on the brochure. It appears that Mr. Mankey was a late addition to the show and was not added to the list until after the brochure had been printed. There was no way that you could have known that he was there. As it was, when you realized what was happening you immediately vacated the area AND you took all the necessary steps to cover your steps. You notified me as soon as you were clear of the area and followed through with your orders."

Covington closed the file that was on his desk.

"This was an event that I feared would happen sooner or later. You two cannot be hermits when not on the field. You have normal lives to lead and in doing so there will always be a chance that something like this will happen. We can only hope that with time, memories of those who knew you will fade and you will not have to face something like this again. Now I believe that your vacation was cut short by this incident. I have set up a trip for you back in Paris."

Covington held up his hand before either one of them could say anything.

"Don't argue with me. I want you to go back and finish what you started. The information you retrieved on your last mission is still be analyzed, but what we have figured out Mr. Brotherson is working on something very important. We have had our eyes on this gentleman for sometime and will continue to watch him. When you get back I want you to come back by here and we will discuss what steps we will need to take from here. So, go back to your flat, get your stuff and finish your trip. The Mankey's are being watched and we will let you know if they are near to you. I hope that your trip will go better than this last one."

He stood up signaling that it was time for the two of them to leave. Kim and Ron stood up and left his office. Covington waited until the two of them had left his office and were on the elevator before pressing the button that summoned the driver into his office.

"So, they reacted well and did as they were trained. I don't like it but there is nothing that I can do about it. Not something as random as this. However, we will need to follow the Mankey's for sometime. If they start talking about this then we will need to make plans to remove them from the scene."

The driver looked at Covington.

"Are you sure about that sir? I mean they are American citizens and the young lady is pregnant."

Covington handed a set of papers to him.

"I can't allow a simple meeting to destroy the investment that I have in the Fox and Sloth project. Sometimes, I really hate this business. I mean their friends and family went through hell when those two "died". Now, they themselves may have to die simply because they ran into two people that they used to care a great deal about. I am sorry but that is the way it is."

Covington shook his head.

"Like I say, sometimes I really hate this business."

* * *

Kim and Ron didn't waste time getting back to their flat. They didn't want Covington to change his mind and put them on a mission. As they made their way through the front door and up the stairs the door to the front apartment opened. Mrs. Wiggins, the elderly lady who lived there waved to them.

"Oh Karen, it's so good to see you. I was so sure that I had met your mother the other day while you were gone."

Kim stopped on the way up the stairs.

"What makes you say that?"

Mrs. Wiggins smiled as she walked out to chat.

"Oh, this happened last week while you were gone. It was getting ready to rain when I looked out the window. This nice couple was standing out on the street like they were lost. The woman could have been your sister or your mother. She had beautiful red hair just like yours except hers was a lot shorter, just above her shoulders and her eyes were a beautiful aqua blue. Her husband was a tall distinguished man with just a slight streak of grey on his temples."

Ron stepped behind Kim and placed his hands on her shoulders. He could already tell that she was trembling. Mrs. Wiggins continued talking.

"I asked them in for a spot of tea while it was raining. I asked her if she was your mother but do you KNOW who she was? Her name was Mrs. Possible. She was the mother of that wonderful little lass who died trying to stop those terrorist. I told her she needed to meet you so you could talk to someone from the states. But they were on vacation and they had to leave. I am so sorry they missed you. Are you okay dear?"

Kim had turned pale as Mrs. Wiggins had told her story. Ron held onto Kim tightly and stepped down beside her as she slid into his arms. He turned his head toward Mrs. Wiggins.

"It's okay Mrs. Wiggins. She just ate something that didn't agree with her. I'll get her upstairs."

Mrs. Wiggins watched as Ron scooped Kim up and carried her to their apartment. She shook her head as she turned back to her apartment.

"She does look a lot like that lass Kim Possible."

Ron sat Kim down on the couch in the living area expecting her to let go of him. She had wrapped her arms around his neck as he had carried her up the stairs and didn't let go. She didn't let go now forcing him to pick her up again and sit down with her in his lap. He held onto her as she sat shuddering in his lap and tears fell from her face. He marveled at the odds of the past two occurrences in their lives. What were the odds? First, running into Tara and Josh in Paris, then her parents showing up on their doorstep literally by chance, their luck could not keep going as it was. Kim pulled back and gazed up into his face.

"We have to tell Covington. If Mrs. Wiggins talked to mom and dad then they may want to come back here someday. We will have to move."

Ron hung his head.

"Yeah, I'll call Covington."

Ron picked up his phone and dialed the same number again. He placed his phone on speaker and laid it on the table in front of the couch.

Covington answered on the first ring.

"Covington"

Ron swallowed before he started to speak.

"Sorry to bother you again so soon sir but we wanted you to know. Apparently by some wild chance Karen's parents were in London and somehow ended up here. We…"

Covington's voice came over the speaker.

"I am well aware that the Possible's were in London. That was one of the reasons we sent you on that mission. We didn't want you to chance a meeting them in London. It looks like we made the right decision. I had agents following them when they lost them in the metro. By some absolute oddity in circumstances they ended up in front of your flat. Mrs. Wiggins downstairs let them in when it began to rain. I can only assume that Karen's parent identified themselves. Apparently neither Mrs. Wiggins nor Karen's parents made any connection with your real identity. Agents caught up with your parents later and posed as an English couple. They discreetly questioned Karen's parents and deduced that they did not suspect anything. Your cover is safe. Karen's parents returned home a few days later. We are keeping watch over the matter and will inform you of any problems. Now I REALLY want the two of you to take that trip. With everything that has happened I think the two of you need to relax. If I need to contact you I will. Get going."

The line went dead as the two of them stared at the phone. Ron pulled Kim into another hug. They sat there quietly for a few moments then she pushed back.

"Well, I guess it was best that we were gone. It would have been furiously weird to have them show up at our door."

Ron giggled a little.

"Talk about 10.5 on the weird scale. Now how about we get moving? Let's go finish our trip."

Kim smiled.

"You still owe me dinner on the tower. Let's get our bags and head back."

* * *

The hulking body guard entered Big Daddy Brotherson's main audience room. Big Daddy was lying back on a number of cushions with several of his harem girls around him. One fed him one of his favorite nougat bars as the other lounged around him. He noticed his man standing in the room waiting.

"My dears, I have some business with my associate here. Please would you give us a few moments? I will call you when I need you."

The girls got up and left the room and the man stood to the side waiting for them to leave. After they were alone, Big Daddy turned to his silent man.

"Well my friend, do you have any answers for any of my multitude of questions?"

The man pulled a file out of the briefcase he was carrying and handed it to him. Big Daddy opened the file.

"I see that you were able to obtain the results of the blood test from the incident at Mr. Laurent's estate. Where are the results of the fingerprints from the invasion of my domicile?"

The man leaned forward and flipped through a number of pages and pointed to a number of pages. Big Daddy turned his attention to the myriad of reports within the file. He had been in business for several years with no incidents. Although many of his opponents, enemies and a few of his friends had attempted to infiltrate his home no one had ever been successful. He had personally questioned all of those who invaded his homes. His methods would be horrific but he always got results. His methods of removing the prisoners from the land of the living took time and were extremely painful.

Now in the middle of one of his greatest schemes he had apparently gained the attention of someone. He had his own sources within all of the major intelligence and law enforcement groups. His inquires to his sources had not yielded any results. This was not completely unusual as sometimes things were kept secret but he had increased his payments to his sources and he doubted that the secret would be kept secret for long. He was still frustrated; it was as if they really didn't even exist. One thing was for sure, the two agents who broke in were beyond the normal agent. They were entirely lethal and very skilled. They had killed at least two of his guards and the women had taken down his hulking assistant. Something that no one had ever been able to do.

Big Daddy's eyebrows rose for a moment when he saw the results of the blood tests from Laurent's estate and the fingerprints from Laurent's estate and his own estate. The blood type was common enough but it was the fingerprints that really seem to gain attention. When his agent had sent the request for matching the fingerprints was sent through there seemed to be a match at first then an error message was received. That had never happened before. The agent had been questioned by his superiors as to why he had been sending those fingerprints through the system. He had reported that he had reopened the investigation of Laurent's estate and added the fingerprints from the invasion of Brotherson's estate. His agent had been promoted and reassigned to another department after that. Later, the agent found out that all the evidence that he had used had disappeared. After that, his agent went silent. It was only later that he saw in the news that his agent had been killed in a traffic accident. Brotherson didn't believe that for a moment.

That bit of news really bothered Brotherson. That kind of pull was beyond what he was used to dealing with. This was beyond government pull but the dark hidden side of government's kind of pull. The kinds of pull that can make people disappear. Brotherson thought for a moment. This would require a different type of search. He motioned for his assistant to come over. The man bent over to listen. Brotherson pulled out the two pictures of Kim.

"Let's take a different approach. Use our other contacts to search for this face. Make sure nothing can be traced back to us."

The man nodded and stood up. He took the file from Big Daddy and left the room. Brotherson stared at the copies of the pictures before him.

"Oh yes Miss whoever you are. We will meet very soon and when we do I plan to make it very unpleasant for one of us. I will have some very important questions for you and I WILL get my answers."

* * *

Kim raised her wine glass to Ron. He raised his glass and clinked his glass against hers.

"Here's to a wonderful night."

Kim smiled and sighed at the same time. He had said the same thing she had been thinking. They had flown back into Paris and gone back to the same hotel. The staff had been very helpful and gracious. They had even been able to get the same room. She was so looking forward to this. He was looking particularly handsome tonight and had been going out of his way to make her feel better. The shock of their near meeting with Tara and the knowledge that her mom and dad had been so close had taken a toll on her. But Ron had been doing what he had always been doing throughout this entire sitch. He had been doing everything possible to support her and make her feel better. She started to stare into his eyes. He had the deepest brown eyes. Kim shook her head for a moment where did that thought come from? He was calling her name.

"KP are you okay?"

The sound of his favored name for her brought her back to the present. She smiled.

"Yeah, just a something in my face, must have been a loose hair or something."

She clinked her glass against his.

"To a truly wonderful night."

* * *

Ron tried to keep his composure. Kim looked so beautiful tonight. She was always beautiful but something about tonight was so special. She was wearing her little black dress. The one that she was literally poured into, every single one of her curves was accented by the dress. Her hair fell in cascades from her head and shoulders and her eyes sparkled like the stars in the sky above them. He knew that the near meeting with Tara and Josh and the fact that her parents had shown up on their doorstep had really shook her up. He had tried to do everything possible to make her feel better. He had taken her shopping of a number of her favorite stores. Now they were sitting at a private table on the Eiffel Tower. The lights from the city shone highlights on her hair. He forced himself to snap out of the trance he had been in and noticed that she seemed to be staring at him in a very intense way. The look on her face made him feel warm all over and warm in other places too. He called out to her.

"Karen, Karen?"

He thought for a moment then called out.

"KP, are you okay?"

She shook her head and the look cleared from her face.

"Yeah, just a something in my face, must have been a loose hair or something."

She clinked her glass against his.

"To a truly wonderful night."

The waiter came up with their dinner and started to serve them. He whispered to Ron that the chef had gotten his suggestion and would be creating a special dessert for Kim using Fudge Ripple ice cream. Ron nodded and made a mental note to himself to add something to the waiter's tip and to add a tip for the chef.

They both pulled her napkins out and started to eat. The stars seem to twinkle brighter as the two of them silently enjoyed their meal.

* * *

Well everyone. I hope that all of you enjoyed this update of this classic story. Please leave your comments and reviews. I would appreciate it.

* * *

Here is a quick summary to the story.

Kim and Ron went on a mission to Russia to stop some people from buying a nuclear weapon. They were able to stop the group from getting the bomb but were unable to keep it from detonating. The Russia government blamed them for the explosion. To keep from being sent to a Russian prison the U.S. government wanted to place a number of restrictions on the two of them. One of the restrictions was that they were to have no more contact with each other. Kim had gotten an under the table offer to keep doing what she had been doing and Ron got the same offer. However, to take the offer they had to disappear. They took the offer which happened to be with the British government. Their deaths were faked and they went through some intensive training to become superspies. Wade was brought in and is the only person from their past other than Dr. Director who knows what really happened to them. They have gone through a number of missions already. Big Daddy Brotherson is behind what is going on. Kim and Ron have spoiled his plans twice already and Big Daddy has two pictures of Kim in the act. He doesn't recognize her and is actively hunting for them. This brings you to the present point of the story. There is a lot of story in between this and I really hope that you will go back and look up the other chapters. Now go back to the top of the chapter and start the story.


	2. Chapter 2

The Fox and the Sloth  
Chapter 2

* * *

Kim slid her arm through Ron's as they left the Eiffel Tower and crossed the Pont d'lena. It had been a glorious evening. The dinner had been beyond delicious and Ron had been as elegant and handsome as he had ever been. She could not help but notice the envious glances of several women in the restaurant. She had no doubt that they had checked him out and noticed that he didn't have a wedding ring on. She made it a point to be very noticeable in the attention she gave him. She even gave a table of women who had been staring at them all night a wink. It was a challenge to them that this man was hers and hers alone. The snarls that came from some of the faces had really made her evening.

There had even been one woman who made it very clear that she was interested in Ron. The oversexed harlot even had the nerve to come by their table and drop something. She made a show of trying to bend over to get it before Ron, being evermore the gentleman that he was, picked it up for her. Her gown was open down the from and Kim was sure Ron got an excellent show as she stood up. He had handed her back her purse. The witch had thanked him again and again as she stroked the front of his jacket and licked her lips. However, the one thing that had NOT changed about Ron was he could still be totally oblivious to the actions of someone like that woman. Kim had watched as the raven-haired enchantress had walked away hips swinging. As she turned back to Ron he had all of his attention right on her just as he had the entire evening. A quick glance back at the woman, who had by this time turned around to see how effective her show had been, enabled Kim to slip her shoe off and gently caress Ron's leg with her foot. The expression on that tart's face had be worth it.

"Did you have fun playing with those ladies at the other table and especially the one who came by the table?"

She jerked her head to stare at him.

"Huh? What are you talking about?"

Ron giggled.

"Karen, I saw the little game you were playing back there. You were enjoying yourself immensely showing off. I maybe a little dense at times but remember a major part of my training was how to integrate into any society. Part of that was the little game of flirting. I knew what was going on but ignored it. I was having a better time watching you."

Kim's face started to burn with her blush as he keep talking.

"You mean YOU knew what was going on and let me make a FOOL of myself?"

Ron paused for a moment.

"Come on KP. What guy is not going to dig a bunch of beautiful women vying for his attention? Especially when he knows that the woman of his dreams is sitting right in front of him? Let the others take a shot. I don't need to look around when all the answers are in front of me."

He came to a sudden stop when he realized what he had just said.

"KP, I...I..."

Kim's heart was beating faster than as if she had just run a marathon. Her face felt hot as she stopped and looked out over the Seine River.

"It's okay Henry. Nothing that I haven't thought before. But..."

Kim stopped talking. Something was wrong. Her senses went on alert. Ron saw her stiffen and knew something was up. He stepped to her side and put his arm around her. Anyone would normally think that it was just a boyfriend putting his arm around his girlfriend. But in reality, he was getting closer so they could talk and so they could take up their search areas.

"What's up?"

She turned to face him and started to play with the lapels of his jacket. She started to scan the area behind him as he watched the area behind her.

"We are being followed. I am not sure how close, I feel it more than I know."

Ron put his arms around her slim waist and started to slowly sidestep to his right. She followed his lead and they started to slowly turn in a circle. This allowed them to look like a couple enjoying each others company but allowing the two of them to steadily scan the area. Ron saw something and stopped to lean over as to give her a kiss. He whispered into her ear.

"At your three o'clock at the start of the bridge. Someone is standing the shadows of one of the pillars where the statue is at the foot of the bridge."

Kim pulled him into an embrace and took a good look in that direction. She could see someone standing the shadow of the large pedastal at the end of the bridge. At first she couldn't get a good look at the person. That was until the figure moved into the light. A deep growl came from her throat. It was that tart from the restaurant. Apparently she still wanted to get her nails and everything else on or into Ron.

"Okay, I got a good look at them. Let's split up. Now jump back and I'm going to act like I am mad. I will slap you. At that point we will break up you go over the bridge and up park and into the city. I'll cross the street and back over the bridge."

Ron stiffened.

"KP, what is going on?"

He turned and looked back up the bridge.

"Hey isn't that...?"

Kim nudged him hard and hissed.

"Yes, it's that tart from the restaurant. We can't have her following us around or mainly you!"

Kim thought for a moment.

"Okay, this is how it's going to go."

Marie Jean Champal watched as the little red hair twit hung on to that handsome rouge. She had been watching him since he stepped into the restaurant earlier in the evening. He spoke French without a bit of accent and had the manners of aristocracy. He was also the handsomest man she had seen in a long time. She had watched as he held the chair for the auburn haired woman that was with him. Marie had sneered at the girl pretending to be a real woman. That man desired a real woman to give him attention. She had stepped my the table where the man and woman were seated and dropped her purse. The man had turned, picked up her purse and returned it to her. She bent over to be sure that he would be able to see down her dress. He was not the first man she had pulled this particular trick on.

She had taken her purse back from him a gave his hand a slight touch as she did. Then turning she put some extra sway in her hips to emphasize the invitation she was giving. Almost all of the men in the room seemed to watch her as she made her way out of the restaurant. Turning back to give a final invitation she got the shock of her life. Not only was he not looking, unlike just about every other man in the restaurant, but he was totally concentrated on the auburn haired hussy he was with. That little strumpet glanced her direction with a slight smile and proceeded to slip off one of her shoes and rubbed his leg with her foot.

She had followed the couple as they left the Eiffel Tower and started over the bridge. She watched as the two stopped about halfway across the bridge. They embraced for a moment. Marie burned with envy as the little witch hung all over the man. Then she shrieked and jerked back from him. The girl proceeded to give him a resounding slap and ran up the street and off of the bridge. He quickly followed her. Marie smiled this is working all the better. All she had to do is quickly find him and make him hers. She followed both of them and they crossed the street and disappeared into the park.

The man disappeared around one of the buildings trying to follow the girl. She followed him into the streets of the city. The area was getting dark with fewer lights when she turned the corner of one building only to trip over something. She would have to thank her Karate instructor later as his training was the only thing that kept her from falling to the ground. She turned to she what she had tripped over when she realized that red headed tart was standing in front of her.

"Why you little..."

Marie struck out with a blow that would have made her instructor proud except it hit nothing but air. A quick blow landed on her arm that caused it to go numb.

"Just a word of advice. Following us is a big mistake."

Marie laughed.

"Oh really dearie, afraid that I'll steal him from you. I will by the way."

She spun and threw a kick, but before the kick was half way there she pulled the blow and spun the opposite direction with a blistering crescent kick. The kick never landed. The air left her lungs as a blow struck her chest. The pain radiated out from the center of her chest as she went down on her knees struggling for breath.

The other woman bent over and snatched her head back.

"Who do you work for?"

Marie's eyes widened when she realized that she had gotten into something she hadn't counted on. The other woman reached down and touched something on her neck. Pain radiated out through her body but she was unable to scream as her vocal cords seemed to be frozen. She looked up into the green eyes that stared back down at her. She could see death and pain waiting for her there. Finding her voice she spoke.

"I ...I don't know what you are talking about."

The pain came back as the red haired demon hissed.

"You followed us. I want to know why, and surely it's not just because you think you can wave your boobs and your butt in my partner's face and get in his pants."

Marie was terrified. This was not what she expected. Something was really wrong here. By a miracle she found her voice.

"I work for a law firm. I wanted your friend. I couldn't get his attention at the restaurant so I decided to follow you. Then you seemed to have a fight and split up so I followed him. I thought..."

The demon spoke again.

"That you could get you hands on him. Let me give you a piece of advice. Let it go. We don't like people following us. I'm going to let go now and leave. If you try and follow us again I will find you and finish this little discussion. And if I hear one word of this in a police report, well you don't really want to do that. Do we understand each other?"

Marie swallowed and nodded. The pain stopped and the hellion disappeared into the darkness. Marie sat there on the ground for a few minutes as she gathered her wits about her. The pain slowly ebbed from her body. She looked around and saw no one. That..that women had taken her down without breaking a sweat. Thinking for a moment she realized she must have crossed on the the drug king pins that were causing so much misery across the country. The threat of what that creature had told her made her think of the bodies that had been found floating in the river just days before. Gathering her purse from the ground she stood up, brushed the dirt from her knees and started to walk away. Her eyes glanced into the shadows for a few seconds then she began to run. She ran like the devil himself was behind her.

Ron waited outside of the Metro station where they had agreed to meet. If the stich had been more that expected she would have beeped him on her Kimmunicator. If not, then she was going to handle it and meet with him later. He hoped she would be gentle with the other lady but be firm as to deliver the message that following the two of them was not a real good idea. Looking up he saw Kim walking toward him with a smile on her face. Her hair was a perfect as it ever was. Maybe she only had to talk to the other woman. That is when he saw the scuff of the left sleeve of her dress. Apparently the other woman required a little extra persuasion. She walked up to him and brushed some lint from the lapel of his coat. He looked at her with a raised eyebrow.

"Message delivered?"

She grinned at him as she pulled him around and took his arm. They started down the steps into the Metro station.

"Message delivered."

* * *

Covington stared at the report in front of him. Never in his life had he seen something that could have the repercussions than the words before him. His analysts had completed their work on the information taken from Brotherson's computer and the computer at the Chalet. Adding to that some other intelligence information along with some events that had been occurring recently in the Middle East all added up to the biggest mess he had ever seen. The Fox and the Sloth would be the only unit that would be able to handle the situation. They really did not exist. If something were to happen to them on this mission then the British government would disavow any knowledge of them. But it the worst were to happen and if any autopsy were done on their bodies the shit would hit the fan between the United States and Russia. Add the information in the report in front of him and you had a dandy start of the Third World War. There might be little left is everything went south.

He sighed and pressed the button on his desk to call in the driver. The man stepped into Covington's office. Covington looked up at him.

"When Fox and Sloth return have them come in immediately."

The driver nodded.

"Do you want me to call them in now?"

Covington thought for a moment.

"No, I promised them a little vacation and I intend to let them enjoy it. We need to complete a few steps before we call them in. I am going to extend their vacation for a few more days. Prepare to sanitize their apartment and all their records. This may require us to sanitize a number of targets within the United States. Let's hope not but dust off the plans and see if we need to update the plans or assets."

The driver nodded and left the room. Covington rubbed his hand through his thinning hair as he picked up his phone and dialed a number.

* * *

Kim stepped into the living area of their suite as she tied the sash to her robe. They had returned to the hotel and elected to get cleaned up and possibly order some late night snack from room service or just raid the little pantry available in the room. Ron was already stretched out on one on the couches as he watched the news. She stopped and watched him for a moment. He was dressed in a pair of sweat pants and a t-shirt. His hair was damp and rumpled like he had just washed it and ran a towel over it without combing it. Her thoughts went back to what he had said on the bridge. There was one thing she could count on. When he spoke like that he meant every word.

She wished she could say the same about her own feelings. When he had said those words earlier if felt like her heart had would explode from her chest. She hoped she could count on her own feeling. What did she really feel for him? He was handsome in his own way. He could be as charming and elegant as any man she had ever known. He also made her laugh when she was feeling down. He put up with her tantrums and never criticized her when she made a mistake even when she would climb all over him when he made a mistake. Years ago, she had asked him to make the biggest sacrifice of his life at that point. He had given up everything and everyone in his life to be with her. How could she ever repay him for that?

The ringing of her phone pulled her from her thoughts. Stepping across the room, she opened her purse and pulled out her phone. A glance at her screen told her that it was Covington calling. She called out to Ron.

"It's Covington."

Ron turned from his place on the couch to look at her. She pressed the accept switch and answered.

"Hello?"

Covington's voice came over the phone.

"Karen, I hope the trip is going well?"

Kim held her breath. Calls from Covington were generally not happy calls.

"Everything has been great so far. We had dinner on the Tower tonight."

Ron stood up and walked over so he could hear what was going on. Kim pressed the button on the phone to put the call on speaker. Covington's voice filled the space between them.

"That is good to hear. We have finished going over the data from your last mission. I need to bring some other assets in before we meet and it's going to take a little time to get it all together. I am extending your leave for a little bit. Why don't you take a cruise or something. I would not be adverse to a trip back the the States if you wanted to."

Two sets of eyes went wide. He had never given them permission to go back to the U.S. before. He had in fact discouraged it. Kim cleared her throat.

"Sir, what's going on?"

Covington's voice came over the phone.

"What makes you think something is going on?"

Kim took a deep breath.

"Sir you have always stressed us to be careful where we went and now you are telling us we can go back to the States. Now what is going on?"

Convington's voice changed.

"Okay Karen. As I said. We have all the data in. I can't tell you more, but I want to give you this chance to go back to the States. I only ask one thing. If you do go back to the States go in one of your mission personas and undergo an appearance change."

Kim thought for a moment.

"Sir, is it that bad?"

Convington hesitated for a moment. This was not a secure channel but the chances of someone listening in were next to astronomical.

"Yes Karen, it is that bad."

Kim looked over at Ron and he nodded.

"Thank you for being honest with us sir."

Covington's voice relaxed.

"I thought you deserved to know Henry. Contact me when you get back to London but no later than the 15th."

Kim rubbed her forehead as she answered.

"We will sir. Thank you."

Ending the call she looked up at Ron.

"Care to join me in a drink?"

Ron smiled.

"I was just going to suggest the same."

* * *

Kim adjusted the large pair of sunglasses that covered her eyes. Pulling back the hair she had dyed a dark brown she glanced over Middleton Park now now as the Team Possible Memorial Park. Holding on to Ron's arms they approached the aging bronze statue that loomed over the central fountain. Ron's hair was still blonde but he was wearing blue contacts. She was wearing a pair of brown contacts and her hair was now brown. They also were wearing some pieces that changed the shape of their faces. It was something Ron had come up with with his new and better mask kit. The day was bright and sunny with just a few clouds in the sky. Whether or not that it was a good idea for the two of them to be here was up for debate but that was water under the bridge. They were here.

They were posing as a German couple vacationing in the United States. Part of their vacation was to visit the hometown of the great Kim Possible and her friend Ron Stoppable. The two of them hoped that they would not run into anyone that might have known them. Even with their appearance change someone might recognize them or think that they recognize them. But that would be a slim chance. It had been four almost 5 years now that they had "died" and they had changed a great deal.

Kim watched as a little black girl ran by her and Ron and stood gawking at the statue. She turned to someone behind them and called out.

"Aunt Monique tell me again how you knew them."

Kim gripped Ron's hand hard enough for him to grimace as a woman who had to be Monique walked by them to stand beside the little girl. It was Monique. Definitely older but there was no doubt in their minds that it was their friend from so long ago.

"Well Sugar, we went to school together. Kim and Ron were my first friends that I made after I moved here. Kim and I worked together at the Club Banana store and Ron and I would catch all the fights between Pain King and ."

Another voice called out.

"Monique!"

Monique turned to the side and waved to a person coming up from their right side. Kim gasped when she recognized face. Monique smiled and waved.

"Bonnie! You made it. How many of the others are going to come."

An older Bonnie stepped up carrying a bouquet of flowers and laid them at the foot of the statue. Turning she gave Monique a hug.

"It's been too long. The rest are on their way. I saw them pulling into the parking lot. Thanks for asking me. I know that I gave you and them a hard time back then."

Monique just shook her head.

"That's all in the past girl. You were one of us. Of all of us you were the one that really stepped up when they…."

Monique stopped speaking as she turned back to face the statue.

"Bonnie, I just wish I had one more chance to talk to them. Just to tell them … that they…. that I loved both of them."

A tear crept down Kim's face as she heard her old friend. Ron gently wiped the offending moisture away before someone noticed.

Bonnie was about to speak when she noticed a couple standing nearby. It was the man that first caught her attention. He was a fine example of manhood and if the occasion hadn't been so solemn and the fact that he was with someone she would have found a way to introduce herself. The woman had black hair and was about her height and had the body that she wished she could have. The woman wasn't voluptuous but clearly well filled out. The couple seemed to be embarrassed to be there. She took a few steps toward them.

"Excuse me. Have you come here so visit the statue? You are welcome to join us."

The man placed his arm around the woman and spoke with a German heavy accent.

"We thank you. We didn't mean to intrude on your gathering."

Bonnie smiled.

"It's okay. My name is Bonnie Rockwaller. I went to school with Kim and Ron."

The man nodded.

"Thank you, my name is Hans and this is Greta. We are vacationing in the U.S. and wanted to come to visit this place. Team Possible saved my wife from an avalanche when she was younger. She always wanted to thank them but never got the chance."

Bonnie thought for a moment that the man's voice seemed familiar but she had never known anyone from Germany. She nodded.

"We would be honored if the two of you would join us. Having you with us would be like having them back with us if just for this moment."

Kim forced a heavy accent out of her mouth.

"Vhank you"

Ron smiled.

"Greta doesn't speak English very well. I will translate for her. You honor us by letting us join you."

They looked up to see a group approaching the monument. Felix rolled up with Zita walking beside him. Marcella, Hope, Brick, Big Mike, Vinnie, Tara and Josh all joined the group. Walking behind them all was Mr. Barkin. Everyone seemed to be carrying flowers. They all gathered together for a moment before Bonnie waved Kim and Ron over.

"Everyone, this is Hans and Greta. They are here visiting the US and wanted to come here. Kim and Ron saved Greta from an avalanche when she was younger. They wanted to come here today to thank the two of them in the only way they could. I asked them to join us. To me at least, by having someone here that those two saved, it's like having them back with us. Hans speaks english well but Greta doesn't."

Zita walked over to Kim and gave her a hug.

"You are welcome to join us."

Kim and Ron forced themselves to act their parts as friends they loved and missed came up to them to give them hugs. All welcomed them to the occasion. Barkin strode up to Ron and gazed at him and started to speak in German.

"You look familiar, but I can tell a military man. What unit?"

Ron thought for a moment.

"KSK."

Barkin snapped to attention and saluted.

"Sir, you and your comrades carry on the fight that these two used to fight. You honor me and them by being here today."

Ron nodded silently.

Barkin turned to the others.

"Hans here is a former member of a very talented special forces group within the German Army. Kim and Ron worked with people like him all the time doing what they did."

Barkin turned back to Ron.

"Please come join us."

The group parted and allowed Kim and Ron to the center of the group. All of them in turn stepped forward to lay their flowers at the bottom of the monument. After everyone was finished Bonnie started to speak.

"Hi Kim, Hi Ron. We are all here today, at least those of us who could make it. We miss you. We have some new friends with us today."

Bonnie turned and gestured for Kim and Ron to step forward.

"This is Hans and Greta. They came here to thank you for saving Greta years ago. All of us have thanked them for coming. They are a connection to the two of you."

Through all of this Ron whispered in German like he was telling Kim what was going on. Kim would nod at the appropriate time. Both of them struggled not to break down. Each of the group stepped forward to speak about something they had done with the two of them or some special memory that they had of the two of them. There were a lot of memories of the cheer squad or just school. Felix talked about the basketball games they had played and the games of Zombie Mayhem. As the last one finished a pair of shadows appeared at the edge of the ground. Kim and Ron heard Monique call out.

"Mr and Mrs. Possible! We were hoping that you would be able to come."

Kim squeezed Ron's hand so hard he had to struggle to maintain a straight face. They slowly turned to see Ann and James standing at the edge of the group. Kim whimpered when she saw them. Both had aged over the past years. There was a lot more gray in James' hair and Ann's hair was showing some gray streaks. Ann stepped forward to hug each of them in turn. She then turned to face Kim and Ron. Bonnie stepped up to her side.

"Mrs. Possible. This is Hans and Greta. They came to today to visit the statue. Kim and Ron saved Greta years ago and they wanted to come and thank them. Greta doesn't speak English but Hans does."

Ann stepped up to Kim and gently took her hand.

"Thank you for coming here to honor my daughter."

Ron slowly found his voice.

"We thank you for letting us be here."

James stepped up to Ron and shook his hand.

"Mr. Barkin just told me what you do. My daughter died trying to keep the world safe. Thank you for following in her lead."

Ron nodded slowly when whispered to Kim in German.

"We need to leave and now before we break up."

Kim nodded as Ron turned to the group.

"Greta is a little upset. She didn't know she would be so honored to meet not only the friends of Kim and Ron but Kim's parents also. We need to leave as not to miss our flight. We wish to thank all of you for letting up be here today."

Everyone in the group came up to them to give them a hug. Ann and James were last. Kim hugged her mom for all that she was worth and struggled to maintain her composure as her mother put her arms around her and returned the hug. Next Kim gave and received a similar hug from her dad. Ron shook James hand as they turned to go. Kim stepped back and took Ron's arm as she spoke in a heavy accent.

"Good-bye."

The two of them turned and walked back to the car. Ron could tell Kim was barely holding it together. He helped her into the car and hurriedly ran around and got in the driver's seat and drove away. Kim whimpered from the seat beside him.

"When I left that night. I was in such a hurry that I didn't even say goodbye them. Now this mission is coming up. I know Covington would not have allowed us back here if he wasn't concerned that we would not have a chance again. I know that we really shouldn't have come, but at least it gave me a chance to say goodbye."

Ron slid his hand across the seat and took hers. He looked back in the rearview mirror was the park disappeared behind them.

"Goodbye everybody. Know that we still and will always love all of you."

* * *

Well, sorry that it took so long but it is just a little harder to get chapters out now. Things are ramping up of Kim and Ron. They took the trip that they knew that they would have to take sooner or later, with or without Covington's permission. It will probably take a little while for them to give over this little trip but it was one that they had to make. Now, they have had the chance to say goodbye. Let's hope that it is not the final goodbye.

This is the Captain

Roger and out

Right hand salute.


	3. Chapter 3

**The Fox and the Sloth**  
**Chapter Three**

* * *

If the world's scientist could have captured the energy from the icy stares that were being exchanged in Covington's office they would have not only been able to stop Global Warming, but most likely would have started a new Ice Age. Kim and Ron had returned to England after spending a few extra days in the U.S. They needed the extra few days to recover from their visit to Middleton. A visit to Disney World and all the other sites like Animal Kingdom and the movie lot had been the break they really needed. A trip to Washington D.C. gave them the opportunity to visit the sites there to. They spent the most time visiting Arlington, the Lincoln Memorial and the Jefferson Memorial. Something told them that the coming mission was going to be more than they had ever handled before. Although they didn't live in the U.S. anymore it was still the nation of their birth and they wanted to remind themselves where they came from.

But now that was all behind them and they were sitting in the two chairs that were on the other side of Covington's desk. They had just received a "talking to" from Covington. Some might call it a "talking to"; others might have called it a "dressing down", while others would not have been that kind. The language they had been the receiving end on could have curled the wallpaper off the walls if there had been wallpaper on them. To say the Covington was displeased that they had gone to Middleton would have been similar to say that "Big Ben" was a clock.

Covington was still pacing behind his desk, out of breath and out of curse word in seven different languages that he had used in the past thirty minutes. Kim and Ron sat there mute after stating exactly what Covington could do with his opinion about what they did. Needless to say that it was physically impossible and if possible there was not enough laxative in England to cure the problem. They didn't back off for one second about what they did. Covington finally flopped down in his chair and the three exchanged the icy stares that they were currently exchanging. He finally rubbed his forehead with his hand and pulled his chair back to his desk.

"Okay, that was said and done. It's in the past. You know my opinion and I know yours. We don't have to agree about it so let's get on with business."

Opening a drawer on his desk he pulled out a couple of thick files and handed them to Kim and Ron.

"Here is the overview and results of what we have been able to ascertain from the data you retrieved from your last mission. This situation is becoming a matter of international security and may require contact with my counterparts in other nations. However, I don't think that will be necessary at this point. Now I want you to study this material and be completely familiar with all of the aspects. Use the offices here and any of the reference materials that you may need. I will expect a briefing from the two of you within two days. Now get to work."

Kim and Ron stood and turned to leave his office. As they walked out of the door Covington called out to them.

"For what it's worth I would have done the same thing if I had the chance."

The light from the streetlight on the corner was the only illumination in their living room when Kim and Ron finally returned to their flat. They had spent the entire day and part of the evening going over all the information in the files that Covington had given them. It was only after Kim had fallen asleep at the keyboard of her computer and had typed fifteen pages of "n"s with her nose when her head had fallen forward onto the keyboard that they decided to call it for the evening. Ron gave Rufus a good scratching as he made his way to the kitchen.

"What'cha want to eat KP?"

Kim shrugged her shoulders.

"I don't know. Nothing really big, I'm too tired to be really hungry."

Rufus gave a plaintive whimper as he looked at his favorite two humans. He had been waiting all day for a really big meal. Ron laughed as his gave his pet a pat on the head.

"Sorry little buddy but I am with KP right now. How about one of my three cheese omelets?"

Rufus nodded rapidly.

"Yummm. Cheeeessseeeee!:

Kim laughed.

"That actually sounds really good Henry. Why don't you get started and I'll finish unpacking."

Ron nodded as he opened the refrigerator and started to pull out the ingredients for their meal. Kim stepped over into the bedroom and pulled their luggage from the corner where they had left it when they returned from their trip. She opened the first case and started to sort out the dirty laundry. The darks went in one pile while the lights another. The delicates, mostly hers, went into a third pile. Doing laundry was one of the new things she had to learn over the years. When she was at home, her mom always did all of her laundry. All she had to do was to take her dirty clothes down to the laundry room and put them in the proper hampers. Her mom would do all the washing and stack the clean clothes on the counter in the laundry room. Each member of the family was responsible for picking up their clean clothes and putting them up. Now, she and Ron traded laundry duty.

As she finished unloading the first case she started on the second one. This case contained some clothes but also had most of their souvenirs in it. There were the obligatory matching Mickey Mouse ear hats, some t-shirts from the different Disney Parks and some different items from Washington D.C. The only part of Disney that they had avoided was EPCOT. The Disney Company had honored her and Ron by developing an adventure Scavenger Hunt. Since pictures of them were plastered all over certain parts of EPCOT they thought it would not have been good for some little girl to stop and point at the Kim looked a lot like Kim Possible.

She pulled out the two t-shirt they had purchased at Space Mountain. While Ron had "matured" over the years there were still some rides that caused him to scream like he always did. Space Mountain was one of those rides. He was a little wobbly kneeded after walking off of that one. He got his revenge though when he dragged her onto "It's A Small World." The slow ride and the incessant music and singing had been just revenge. A firm warning was given that if he starting singing that song again at any time during the rest of the trip that she would have to seriously hurt him. Even with her own warning she found herself humming that song every now and then. As she started to put up the t-shirt she realized that she had started humming it.

"HENRY! You SO are going to GET IT!"

Laughter could be heard from the area of the kitchen.

"Channeling a little Disney are we Karen?"

Ron looked up from his cooking to come face to face with a scowling Kim.

"Serves you right for dragging me onto the insane ride."

Kim glared back.

"That was just one time. That…that song keeps coming back like some bad dream."

Ron started to giggle but thought that it would not be in his best interest to do so. Instead, he handed Kim a plate covered in a light and fluffy omelet. She glanced down at the plate and snatched it away from him.

"You are so lucky that you are a good cook. Come on Rufus, your favorite show is coming on. Let's watch."

Rufus nodded vigorously as Kim picked up Rufus's plate and carried it into the living area. Ron smiled at the two as they made their way to a spot in front of the television.

* * *

Big Daddy Brotherson was disturbed. He had been disturbed for some time ever since his home had been invaded. His man had not been very successful at locating the owner of the face that had been responsible for causing him so much grief. But now he had to put all of that to the back of him mind. The clients that were to come to his home before those awful two invaded it were supposed to arrive soon and he had much to discuss. While he was not one to try the drastic schemes of Drakken or build the monster machines like Dementor or even have the delusions of grandeur that Fisk had he did fill a certain spot within the entire scheme. He remembered a term that was used in when he was in school. He was not a "King" but he was a "Kingmaker". He didn't enforce the schemes of his clients but he made them happen by supplying them with what they thought they needed.

He was purveyor of information, technology, and influence. If you needed to know how to build a super weapon, he would sell you the data you needed and also sell you the hardware that you needed to build it. If some bribes needed to be made he knew who and what amounts would need to be paid. He would play both sides with equal ease, it just mattered who had the most money. The gentlemen who would be visiting him tonight had a great deal of money. They didn't want to take over the world, but they would not mind shaking it up a little. The data that he had collected on Turkey had only been the first part of the job. Now he was getting ready to deliver some more information and the prospect of some hardware.

One problem he did have was with his main IT tech. He was a very competent man when properly directed and could do wonderful work. However sometimes he would get distracted by some strange data and would spend extended amounts of time trying to find out what was going on sometimes to the detriment of his normal duties.

"Ah yes. Mr. Ballard. I do believe that we have had this conversation before?"

The man nervously approached him.

"Yes sir Mr. Brotherson sir."

Brotherson held up his hand under his chin as if in thought.

"Perhaps I have not made myself clear about your duties?"

The man shook his head.

"No sir, it's just that I may…"

Brotherson interrupted him.

"Now my friend. I do not wish to speak on this matter again. I need you to be ready for this upcoming meeting and presentation. However, if you think that you cannot concentrate on your duties?"

The man shook his head.

"No sir."

Brotherson nodded.

"Then my good man. I suggest you stop your…wild goose chases and concentrate on your duties. I have other people locating those who have invaded my home."

The IT tech left the room very quickly. Brotherson turned to his man.

"I don't think we will have any more trouble with him."

Ballard returned to his work area and got back to his work preparing for the upcoming meeting. He checked his system as pulled up the work file he had hidden deep within his other files. Wishing to do something good for his employer, he had compiled a facial recognition program. In testing his new work he had pulled the picture of the girl from the home invasion. He also used the DNA from he had been able to obtain from the Laurent raid. He used some old data banks that had been shelved due to the data being old. The program got two hits. The names that came up on his screen were surprising as he knew the two people to be dead. But how could they be dead and their faces and DNA appear years after they were supposed to be dead. He glanced at the two pictures and names before he selected the data for deletion. The names "Kim Possible" and "Ron Stoppable" along with their pictures and data disappeared from the screen as he hit delete.

Upstairs, Brotherson clapped his hands as his harem girls paraded into the room.

"Yes, yes my dears. Let's get ready for our guests."

He pointed to one brunette.

"My dear, if you please would you get me one of delicious chocolate bars. I would prefer one without nougat."

* * *

Kim and Ron made their way back to their underground "lair". They had both thought it was very funny that after all the years of them breaking into the villains lairs that they now had one of their own. Rufus decided to stay back at the flat to watch "Mole rat Nation" on the Creature Channel. Kim pulled the first stack of files out of the file drawer in what had become to be known as their office. It was actually one of the extra training rooms off of the main training area and just a few doors down from Covington's own office. Ron started of the coffee maker to produce some liquid refreshment that would help them through the morning.

After a few near disasters and two fires, Covington gave them one of the Keurig coffeemakers. It was one of the only kitchen appliances the Kim was allowed to operate in the entire complex. A couple of months earlier she had attempted to bake some brownies for Covington's driver. The result was not what Kim had hoped. However, a couple of scientists on the staff took the results for the chemical and biological warfare section. They had to put the remains in a special glass container. The mixture had melted the metal pan that she was using to bake the brownies in. The entire staff had to grab gasmasks as the smoke spread throughout the facility. The stove had to be replaced as the smoke had corroded the interior of the oven. Covington figured that the simple coffee machine that made single servings of coffee was just perfect for her not to mess up.

Ron set her favorite cup of Double Black Diamond Extra Bold flavor with just a little sugar and a dose of cream. Kim picked up her cup and took a slow slurp.

"Ahhh, just right."

Ron shuddered.

"You aren't right drinking something like that."

Kim giggled as Ron set down his Hazelnut Crème on the desk.

"I like what I like now let's get into this stuff. Covington's gonna want a briefing and we have a lot to do before then."

Ron nodded.

"Thought of contacting Wade?"

Kim thought of a moment.

"Only if we need to. Let's break all this down and make a list of what we might need him to do. We'll have to run it by Covington before we ask."

Ron nodded and picked up the first file, sat down and started to read.

* * *

Big Daddy Brotherson sat back amidst the cushions where he lay as he discussed business with his new partners. They had finalized their plans and needed him to provide them with some technology as well as some weaponry. Before that he would need to provide them with some political backing in their endeavor. The leader of the group leaned forward to speak.

"Mr. Brotherson. We only need a few more things from you. As you know we wish to destabilize the government of Turkey. We plan to make this country our own. After we do that and run all the infidels out of the country we plan to build a pipeline across the country to the Black Sea. There we can supply our oil to the world without having to use our present routing."

Brotherson steepled his fingers in thought.

"Then why do you wish for me to supply the device. Is not your country working on one at this time?"

The man sneered.

"We will have our own in time; however, getting the device we seek will cause more problems than using one of our own."

Brotherson nodded.

"Will not some of your Muslim brothers die if and when the device is used?"

The man smiled.

"Of course but Allah will understand and welcome them."

Brotherson closed his eyes.

"So that is why you wish me to obtain a nuclear device, preferably of Russian make. If the device is detonated in the country the political fallout would be tremendous."

The man smiled.

"Of course, but we will only do this as a last resort. We prefer the other way."

Brotherson nodded.

"You have payment?"

The man nodded to one of his associates. The other man picked up a briefcase and handed it to Brotherson's assistant. The hulking man took the briefcase to the side and opened it. After examining the contents of the case he nodded to Brotherson. Big Daddy turned to his clients.

"The arms and lists of contacts will be delivered within the time specified at the place specified. I will attempt to obtain the device. Once I have it I will notify you about delivery."

The man nodded.

"It is well sir. Do you have access to such?"

Big Daddy nodded.

"Yes, I attempted to use this contact a few years ago. Delivery was prevented and the resulting fallout caused a great deal of grief among a great many people. It did lead to the removal of an adversary that had been a thorn in my side and that of my clients."

The man nodded.

"Ahh yes, the little red headed whelp and her joke, too bad I never had the opportunity to get my hands on her. I would have enjoyed teaching her her proper place in this world."

Brotherson nodded.

"Quite so, quite so. Our business is at an end, let us enjoy the entertainment."

Big Daddy clapped his hands and the harem girls entered the room. Music started to play as the girls started to dance. Other girls started to carry in trays of food and drink.

* * *

Kim stretched her arms after laying the stack of files she was carrying on desk in their office. Ron was just a step or two behind her and set their laptop down next to the files. They had just finished the second briefing for Covington on the mission that now encompassed their lives. As they got deeper into the fact and not so clear facts of the situation it had become clear that things were very serious. Russian intelligence had found out that someone was looking to purchase a small nuke. The money behind the request was enough for someone to take notice. There was also a lot of unrest starting in Turkey. Demonstrations against the government had grown just over the past few days. There had even been a couple of assassinations as well as some assassination attempts. It all boiled down to a lot of trouble.

Covington wanted them back in Turkey ASAP. They needed to track down some of the players that were causing so much of the trouble. Also, one of the top ministers in Turkey had been placed on a death list. One of the main objectives of their missions would be to stop any assassination attempt. Then they were to do as much damage as they could to the insurgents as possible. In Covington's own words they were to "prosecute with extreme prejudice".

Covington wanted them back in the Middle East as fast as they could get there. This time they would not be just going in as tourists. They would overfly their target and jump in. If they were caught they could expect no help. Both of them had seen a movie their parents had talked about. It was about a young man who tried to smuggle drugs out of Turkey. He was caught; the rest of the movie was about his experiences in a Turkish prison. As they would be considered worse that drug runners they could expect that their treatment would not be as nice. They both vowed not to be captured or allow the other to be captured.

* * *

Covington looked up from his desk in the bookshop. A well-dressed young lady hand entered his shop and started browsing through the shelves. After a few moments, she approached the counter with a smile.

"Good morning sir, would you happen to have a copy of Dante's Inferno? The older the better."

Covington thought for a moment before answering. The code phrase that she had just spoken was one seldom used. He had to make sure that she was real or was her request just a coincidence.

"I have a number of copies of that volume. Are you interested in a particular volume?"

The woman thought for a moment.

"I would be most interested in one of the Folio Society illustrated by Blake."

Covington nodded.

"Which folio, the 1890 or the 1880?"

The lady answered quickly.

"The 1880 volume."

Covington nodded. She was real.

"I don't think have one available at this time. However, when I locate one how do I get in touch with you."

She shrugged her shoulders.

"The normal way. But I really would like this one fast. There are a number of others interested."

Covington nodded a final time. Her messages had been delivered. The woman turned and left the store. Covington worked for a few more minutes before he closed his ledger that he had been working on and turned to his assistant.

"I have to meet a client for a few minutes. He has an interesting folio that he wishes to show me and he is bringing some friends with him. I will return as soon as possible."

The assistant's eyes wavered for a moment. The code phrase meet that Covington was leaving to meet with one of his counterparts in the intelligence community on a very important matter. The meeting would include a number of other individuals all from the intelligence community. Covington grabbed his coat and left his store. Walking a number of blocks he entered a small pub. The man behind the counter nodded to a door at the rear of the main room. The pub was a meeting place for MI6. He could meet others there in comparative security. He opened the door to the small dining room and took a seat at the single table. The waiter brought him dark ale without even asking. After a few minutes the door opened and two men entered the room.

The first man was Alton Brannigan. He was an Attaché with the American Embassy. He was also the CIA section chief for the United Kingdom. The second man was Ivan Krashtinov. He was an attaché with the Russian Embassy and like his counterparts in the room he was the KGB section chief to the United Kingdom. The two men nodded to Covington as they entered and took a seat. The waiter had their drinks in front of them before they even settled in their seats.

Covington raised his mug.

"Cheers."

The other two men picked up their mugs and clanked them against Covington's. They each took a gulp and placed their mugs back on the table. Covington sat back and stared to the two men.

"Now just what the bloody hell in going on to call a meeting like this?"

Alton played with his mug for a bit.

"You have been running a series of operations in Turkey. The last one was against a gentleman we all know. Whoever hit his place raised enough hell that he is unleashing everything he has to find out who did it. About a year ago, there was a similar disturbance at a Chateau belonging to a Mr. Laurent. Some checking has shown that there appears to be a link between the two. We have some idea of what is going on. But one thing we wonder about."

Alton pulled out a file from the briefcase he was carrying. Opening the file he took out a few photos and laying them on the table, he slid them over to Covington.

"Now Sir Basil. We have studied what has been going on and we have even had agents see an unusual couple who appear to be operating out of London. We came to a very interesting conclusion. That is you have a very special team at work. Nobody knows who they are, where they come from or anything else. They just appeared out of the blue and they have been kicking ass. What is even more interesting is that they bear a very striking resemblance to two persons that the US and Russia would be highly interested in, IF they are alive."

Covington smiled as he glanced at the photographs. Apparently some had been taken from security cameras at Laurent's estate. Others appeared to have been taken from the cameras at Brotherson's estate. Two were very prominent. They were copies of the ones from Laurent's and Brotherson's computers. Kim's face filled both pictures. He settled back into his chair and took a long sip of his ale. Placing it back on the table, he smiled.

"Let's just say, for argument sake, that I do know something about them. What then?"

* * *

Kim and Ron shuffled to the rear of the cargo plane as it flew high over Lake Van in eastern Turkey. The Turkey/Iran border was not far away. Their landing zone was on a mountainside near the village of Kocakoy. It was a remote village overlooking the Turkey Iranian border. They would land on a mountain plateau just to the east of the village. Once on the ground they would wait for their local contact to lead them to a safe place. Staying away from the locals would be the first order of business. Then they would move into town for their first of several strikes. The group had started infiltration into Turkey near the town. There were a number of weapon caches in the area and there would also be a meeting of a few top operatives; one of them being a Mr. Hacari. He was one of the masterminds behind the plan that was unfolding. Their mission this time was simple. Destroy the weapon caches and remove as many operatives as possible with Mr. Hacari and his associates being on the top of the list.

Their ears started to pop as the crew started to depressurize the cargo bay of the plane. It was a scheduled and cleared flight flying a well-known path through the area. They would have to use their glide suits and later their paraglide chutes to cover the miles from their drop point to their landing zone. Ron glanced over toward Kim. He could barely see her as she was buried in so much equipment. Some of their equipment they would jump with. That would be their personal weapons, their encrypted radios and other items they would carry on them. Kim carried a bag of explosives and Ron carried a Barrett XM500 sniper rifle. They would be able to pick up the rest of their equipment after they landed. A drone would airdrop the rest of their equipment later, after they had set up their camp and scouted the area.

Ron pressed the switch to open the door on the side of the plane. They would be jumping at about 40,000 feet at night. Even with the heavy clothing they had on they could feel the chill of the air blasting in through the door. Kim stood in the door staring straight ahead. Ron was immediately behind her with his hand on her shoulder. When the light beside the door started to blink he started to tap her on the shoulder in rhythm with the light. When the light came on for good he would hit her helmet.

Kim held onto the sides of the door. There was literally nothing in front of her, at least nothing she could see. The specs of the mission started to run through her mind. It was then that she started to feel the tapping on her shoulder. All her concentration was on his touch. The beat of his hand was steady for several seconds then she heard and felt the rap on the side of her helmet. She launched herself forward knowing that he was directly behind her.

She instinctively moved her body into its proper airfoil position to get maximum glide from her suit. Her helmet had a heads-up display that showed a basic map of the terrain under her as well as her altitude, heading, forward airspeed and distance to their drop zone. Ron's helmet held the same thing. They wore their short range encrypted radios so that they could talk through the drop. Ron's voice came over the speaker in her ear.

"You know. As many times as we have done this I will never get used to it."

Kim smiled behind her facemask. Leave it to him to be the normal him even in this sitch.

"You always complain about something. Do you hear me complaining?"

Ron started to hum "It's a Small World".

Kim growled.

"Henry!"

Kim could hear Ron giggle over her headphones.

"Just thought I'd return the favor and give you something to complain about."

Kim had to giggle herself. The one thing that made them such a good team was the natural way they kidded with each other. Almost like husband and wife. Her thoughts did a reset when that thought crossed her mind. Where did THAT come from? She quickly checked their heading and altitude while thinking through the rest of the drop forcing the surprising thought from her mind.

After a few minutes a warning tone sounded in their earphones as well as a small light in their displays. It was warning them that their paragliding chutes would be opening soon and they would glide to their landing zone. Even with the warning, the sudden jolt of the chute opening came as a surprise. As she settled down in her chute harness she guided it toward the area of their destination. When they neared the area she keyed her radio and spoke softly into her mike.

"Rocky"

She waited for a moment hoping that everything was okay and then over her headphone she heard a voice answer.

"Bullwinkle"

A light came on below. This was a coded spectrum laser that was invisible to the naked eye but visible to their headset system. All they had to do is follow the beam down. This allowed them to land in very small areas as it allowed precise landings. Within moments Kim saw the ground rushing up toward her. She released the equipment bag so that it would hang below her and hit the ground before her. Bracing, she hit the ground and rolled to her feet; slapping the quick release on her chest she released the chute. A thud to her side signaled that Ron had hit the ground. Glancing over she noticed that he was already on his feet and had released his chute. A dark figure emerged from some nearby rocks.

"Welcome to Turkey. My name is Bahadur. Let's get your chutes buried and move to your camp site."

Kim nodded and motioned to Ron that the man was their contact. Together, they gathered the chutes and buried them among some nearby rocks. Soon they were moving across the countryside and within minutes they were huddled in a cave. The caves entrance was hidden by some rocks and bushes. Bahadur had some water for them as they settled into the cave and arranged their equipment. Handing each of them a cup of water Bahadur took a seat on the dirt floor. The cave took a couple of turns after the entrance so they could use a low light. There was also a canvas covering that stopped any stray light from escaping. Their host also handed them a plate of food each.

"Like I said, welcome to Turkey. I have checked the area and it is clear."

Kim turned to Ron. He nodded before she could speak. He grabbed their main radio and headed for the exit to the cave as he muttered.

"ET phone home."

Bahadur smiled as Ron pulled the canvas to the side and slipped out.

"I like your friend."

Kim nodded.

"He may make jokes but he'll back you all the way. Now what's the sitch?"

Bahadur pulled out a map and spread it out on the ground.

Ron moved to the entrance to the cave and pulled out the radio. It was a special Wade design. It operated by satellite, used several hundred encrypted channels and changed channels in a coded pattern. In so many words it would be impossible to track. Ron turned on the unit and waited for it to find locate a carrier signal. When the screen showed it was ready to transmit Ron entered the code for the day and spoke into the mike.

"This is Sloth. The sitch is clear. Over."

He waited for a moment until a voice answered.

"Sloth this is Coyote. When do you want the package? Over."

Ron keyed the mike again.

"Echo plus five. Over."

He waited for moment when the other voice came back.

"Confirmed Sloth, next broadcast same Bat time, same Bat channel. Over."

Ron turned off the radio, packed it back up and headed back into the cave. He pulled back the canvas and walked over to where Kim and Bahadur were talking. She looked up at him with a question in her eyes. He nodded.

"Delivery on schedule."

Kim nodded and motioned to the map.

"Bahadur was telling me about the area and what we should expect. Have a seat while he finishes up."

Ron took his place beside Kim. Bahadur pointed a place on the map.

"Here is the complex of homes where the meeting will take place. That will be in three days."

* * *

Ron settled himself down beside the rock wall near the group of old non-descript buildings. He chanced a look over the top of the wall to look into the compound. There was a large truck parked at the doors of a warehouse of some type. There were two guards in front and two more at the rear. It was three in the morning and very cold. Kim was on the other side of warehouse. This would be their first hit of the mission. The warehouse held a large amount of weapons and ammunition and they would need to take it out. The problem was there was also a large barracks that held a sizeable number of troops. That could be a problem is something went wrong.

He slid his modified Kriss Super V around and made sure the suppressor was properly fitted. They would be making enough noise soon enough and there was no need in making any more before necessary. Two taps on his headset told him that Kim was in place. He waited until the guards moved to the end of their walks, then he moved around the end of the rock wall and stealthily approached.

They had chosen this time as it was the middle of the guards' time and they would be cold and bored. This was an out of the way location and the word was that the guards had grumbled about guarding something so far out of the way that no one would bother them. He reached the corner of the first building just as the two guards turned back to each other. Ron heard a growl behind him. Cursing to himself he spun and fired one quick shot. The dog didn't even whimper as it went down. Turning back to his main target he looked to see if the guards had heard the shot. Apparently they hadn't as they stopped to talk for a few seconds before they turned back walking. He waited until their backs were turned to each other and fired two quick shots. Both of them crumbled to the ground without making a noise.

He ran quickly to the front of the building and pulled the bodies into the shadows. Laying them both against the building he laid their weapons in their laps as if they had sat down and gone to sleep. Tapping his mike twice he waited for Kim's answer. Two quick taps answered telling him that the guards on the other end of the building were meeting Allah. He made his way to the door and slowly opened the personnel door. Slipping in, he quietly closed the door behind him and scanned the room.

There were stacks of crates of various sizes and types. He could tell that some were weapons and most were ammunition. A quick glance confirmed that the boxes nearest him held RPGs. This place would go up like a candle when they set it off. Another box off to the side caught his attention. First it had US markings and second it was already open. A quick check of the box told him good and bad news. First the box contained Claymore mines. That was partial bad news as they group had gotten their hands on US weapons. The really bad news was that there were a couple missing. Where they were he couldn't tell and that worried him. The good news was that there were three already rigged and ready to fire sitting inside the box. He picked them up. This might add a little insurance for later.

Kim stepped around the bodies of the two guards she had taken out. There was just a single rear door. She slowly opened it and slid into the building. As she entered she accidently kicked a bottle that someone had dropped right in the door. It clattered across the floor before she could grab it. A voice called out and she looked up. Apparently there was a worker checking on some of the boxes. They looked at each other for a split second before moving. He struggled to pull his pistol from his holster. He apparently didn't use it much because the flap was fastened down and he had trouble opening it. Kim didn't take the time to pull her Kriss into action. With a flick of her hand she drew and threw a razor sharp throwing knife. It embedded itself into his throat. Before he fell to his knees she was already upon him. He realized in the last seconds of his life that the lithe figure in front of him was a woman and that she had green eyes. Those green eyes showed no compassion as she raised a strange looking weapon and fired a bullet into his brain.

Ron heard the clatter of the bottle and went into a combat crouch. There was muted scream and thump of Kim's weapon. Another thud signaled someone was dead. Ron drew a quick breath for a second before her voice came over the headset.

"Sorry about that. Ran into a party crasher. He's down for the count. You ready?"

Ron started to move.

"Yeah, but give me a couple of extra minutes. I found something to leave behind to give the other a little surprise."

Kim thought for a moment.

"What you got Sloth?"

Ron moved toward the door.

"Just a little surprise for unwanted guests. There is a crate of Claymores up here. Gonna salt a few around just in case."

Kim thought for a moment but could not come up with a reason not to let him go ahead. If they were discovered then the Claymores would give them a little cover. If not, then later they would take out more of the terrorists. She started laying her charges around the crates, being careful to place them where they could not be seen but also set the anti-tampering devices. If someone disturbed the charges before the timer finished then the blasting caps would fire. She finished with her work and made her way toward the front of the building. Ron had returned from laying the mines and started with his part of laying his charges. She quickly joined him and took over some of the charges in his bag. Together they finished within a few minutes.

Ron checked his watch and showed the face to Kim. They were about five minutes over their time limit. They needed to vacate soon. Splitting up again Ron returned to the front and Kim went back to the rear. Opening the doors they exited the building and started back the direction that they had approached the building. They quickly cleared the area and were back among the rocks when the charges went off. They had experienced some blasts during training but nothing like this. The entire warehouse went up in one concussive boom. Even though they were some distance from the blast they still felt it. They turned to watch what would happen.

The men in the barracks spilled out of several doors and ran toward the blazing warehouse. They had not gone very far when they began to trip some of the mines Ron had left behind. A few dozen were mowed down when the mines were detonated.

Kim started to move up the mountain side amid a rock scramble. She needed to clear the ridge above her before turned cross country to rendezvous with Ron. She had not gone far over the ridge when she passed into a small open area amid the rocks. Two dark figures appeared from seemingly nowhere, weapons pointed at her. Tensing she readied an attack when she noticed that the weapons were the standard carbines of U.S. Special Forces. A very New York accent split the air.

"Now, why don't you freeze right there?"

* * *

Well, looks like things area heating up a little. This chapter is a little longer than others but I had a lot of ground to cover. I really didn't know how to end the chapter until that last line hit me. I knew I had to end it right there.

Hope that you are enjoying the story. I have not forgotten my other stories but everything just seems to be falling into place on this one. I hope you hang around for what is coming.

Thanks for reading and please leave a review if you like.

This is the Captain,

Roger and out,

Right hand salute.

Just for your info. The original story is here.

.net/s/1844198/1/The_bFox_b_and_the_bSloth_b

The collaborative effort is here:

.net/s/3606516/1/The_bFox_b_and_the_bSloth_b

Check out both stories to get the full story.


	4. Chapter 4

Fox and Sloth  
Chapter 4

* * *

Mr. Habari cursed as he paced through the shattered remains of the warehouse. A significant part of his plans were set back for some time. It would be very difficult i.e.: very expensive to replace what had been lost. He knew it was not an accident. The fact that the mines had been set so that anyone running to investigate would had been slaughtered led him to be assured of that fact. Two mines had detonated and had killed or maimed several of his men. Most importantly one of the mines had taken out two of his most trusted men. It would be very hard to replace them and very painful. One of them was married to his youngest sister. The cost of replacing the weapons and ammunition would be even more painful. Some of the items would irreplaceable. There would be no more of them. They would have to make do with inferior replacements. The U.S. mines were first on that list.

There was another fact that really bothered him. Whoever had hidden the dead guard had hidden them too well. The bodies of three of the guards were unharmed in the blast. The fact that they were killed by single shots to the head said a great deal. This had been a surgical strike. Somehow, someone had gotten the information about what was in the building. The strike could not have been planned better. The last delivery had just been made hours before and the first shipment out would have been early that morning, in fact one of the missing men who apparently was in the warehouse when it blew was making an inventory of what would have been going out. Something else really bothered his. The site was isolated deep in territory friendly to his cause. It was in his own country! The strike was made at a time to maximize the damage with a minimum of effort. There were a number of search teams out looking but nothing so far. Besides, the explosion had attracted the attention of people who it didn't want turning their heads his way. He would have to cut his losses and move his operation to another site. It would even further delay his time table.

He was worried for a short time about the meeting that would be held in just a couple of days in another town. But that was in a small mountain town where all were loyal. No one would be able to get within a mile of the place without being seen and shot. Several important men to his cause would be there and it was time for some money to pass hands. It would be the money that he had promised Brotherson for the nuke. Brotherson had sent him a message just that morning that he had a lead on a device. He required that Habari pay in full first and then he would attempt to purchase the item. Harbari normally didn't like paying upfront for anything but this was a special case. Brotherson's man would be at the meeting to pick up the money and to deliver some information from Brotherson himself.

* * *

Kim kept her breathing at a slow and steady rate. Slowly she raised her hands and placed them on her head. This was not the time to be rash. One, her captors were U.S. Special Forces from their weapons and dress so the local would not be any happier finding them there as finding her. Two, she and Ron had just blown up a lot of somebody's expensive play toys. They would be looking for someone to blame and a group of U.S. Special Forces would be high on the list of suspects. Third, the guy who spoke had to be from New York, you didn't get that twang and not live there a long time. So, she didn't think that she would be in THAT much trouble; at least not yet. But, she was an agent for another agency and she had been caught. She was sure that the men around her would want a lot of answers that she would not be willing to answer. The last fact that she had in her favor was that it was dark and she was wearing a bit of equipment. They may not know that she was a girl.

Her thoughts on that last fact went by in the wind when the other man with the first approached her from behind and started to frisk her none to gently. He hadn't gone far when his hands found certain parts that don't belong on a man. He swore quietly and stepped back for a moment.

"Jason, it's a girl."

The one pointing the gun at her hesitated for a moment.

"Girl, shimrl. Frisk her good and take those weapons. Watch it. She and somebody else just blew that place to hell and gone and took out a bunch of those guys. We'll have to see if Ed and Mark pick up the other one."

Kim pressed her lips together. So there were more out there apparently looking for Ron. She hoped that he would be a little more successful than she had been. The second man stripped Kim's weapon off and laid it on the ground behind him. He continued to frisk her and removing certain items, mainly her sidearm and the bag of explosives that she had in her bag. A swift kick to the back of her knees forced her to kneel on her knees. The man behind her spoke.

"That's it but I can't be sure."

The one called Jason stepped into her field of view. He maintained his distance from her and still had his weapon pointed in her direction.

"Okay now. It may be that we are on the same side. The fact that you just nailed that warehouse down there leads to that fact. Now just who are you and who sent you?"

Kim just glared back at him saying nothing and shaking her head.

Jason stepped forward another step when she heard some noise over his headphone even from where she was. The expression on his face told her that something was up. He placed one hand on the headset and maintained his aim on her as he spoke into his mike.

"Able one to Able three and four. Able one to able three and four repeat last transmission."

He waited for a few moments before he spoke again.

"Able one to Able three and four. Able one to able three and four repeat last transmission."

Jason glanced at the one standing behind her.

"Restrain her and then go find out what is going on."

Kim waited until the other one touched her. She was ready to spring her trap. The extra time that she had had helped her set up what she was going to do. The second she felt his touch she exploded into action. She did a split like she used to do as a cheerleader. The split dropped her below his hand as she flipped backward. As she did a handstand she spun hard with her hands and kicked even harder. The solid jolt that jarred her leg and the loud grunt told her that she had struck hard. She wasn't sure what she had hit but considering her kick would have been below the waist she could bet what she hit. She also didn't have time to count her victory. The other man was right there and while he has been concentrating on his radio that concentration would only last a second or two. She pushed off from the handstand to her feet then into leapt forward into a handspring. The other soldier could not shoot as his partner was in the line of fire. Kim struck him hard in a flying kick with one foot as she kicked his weapon out of the way with her other. He turned as the last split second and while she hit him hard he dodged most of the blow. Reaching up he grabbed for her and ended up getting a handful of the stocking cap she wore and a bit of her hair.

Grimacing at the pain of the lost hair she flipped back and struck again. This time he was not able to block the blow. He grunted and went to the ground as he gasped for air. Kim didn't wait for the other to recover any more. Pulling one of the little tricks Wade had made for them she threw the small ball to the ground. It exploded when it hit the ground with a soft poof. A dark cloud of smoke filled the air and the fine dust when inhaled would cause stun the senses for a second. It would be like she disappeared, which she did as quickly as possible.

She quickly ran from the area knowing the faster she cleared the area the better. They already had plans for what to do in case there was a problem. She headed for the alternate meeting place as quickly as she could. Reaching the outcropping of rock she settled into a hiding place. She had not been there too long when a hand came out of the darkness and touched her shoulder. Already ready being on a razor's edge she spun and struck out at the indistinct figure that had approached her. A thud followed by a familiar 'owwww' told her two things. One, she had hit her target. Two her target had been Ron. His voice came out of the darkness.

"Hey KP, I am on your side."

She turned and reached out for him.

"Sorry but not a smart thing to do."

His voice came back out of the darkness.

"Yeah, sorry about that, believe me SORRY about that."

He paused for a moment as his hand started to play over her.

"You okay?"

She nodded realizing that he still had his night vision.

"Yeah, but had to leave a few things behind. Got some extra eyes?"

She heard him rummage through his pack and then felt him place the special goggles Wade had made in her hands. Placing the goggles on her face and turning them on, she faced him. His face came into view in the green haze of the screens. Even in the dark she could see he was a little disheveled and already sporting a bruise.

"How about you? What happened?"

He sat back on the ground.

"I was monitoring you and your mike picked up that guys voice. So I went to ground. That's when I spotted two dudes in the rocks just to my right. If I had continued on I would have almost stepped on them. Apparently they had seen me because they moved in my direction. I left my pack where I was and backed off a little. It wasn't long before they showed up. They took too much interest in my pack. I was able to put them down with the darts. Good thing they worked just like they did back at the Chateau."

Ron caught the look she was giving him. The darts from the Chateau came in three types. The first just put you to sleep. The second put you in bed for an extended stay. The third? Mourners please omit flowers. He shook his head.

"I just put them to sleep. I already figured they were friendlies but we didn't have time to chat. They'll sleep it off and be fine. How about you?"

Kim wiped her brow with the back of her wrist.

"Stupid me. I walked right into them. The next thing I knew I was looking down the barrel of a carbine with a very unfriendly face behind it. The New York accent was a dead giveaway so I just did what they told me to do. The other one frisked me and took most of my stuff. Apparently that was about the time that you met the others. That distracted the two with me enough for me to take them down. They weren't expecting a couple of cheerleading moves."

He handed her a canteen. She drank most of it and poured the rest over her face and the back of her head.

"One of them got a handful of my hat with some of my hair with it."

She felt Ron's hand run over her head.

"I can't really feel anything but that doesn't mean a thing. Let's get out of here before someone else joins the party. We have another meeting that we can't afford to miss and we need to rest up before we do. This was just a little note for attention. It's time to send a little sterner message."

Kim nodded as she reached over and took Ron's extra pistol from his equipment belt.

"Right! You take point for the first couple of klicks then we'll trade. We'll take path "c" back to base in case we get split up."

Ron nodded and headed off into the darkness. Kim glanced back the direction she had come from and rubbed the back of her head. She owed that dude a beat down for yanking her hair out like that. If she ever got hold of him again she'd pull some hair. She'd rip off his short hairs if she got the chance. Turning back the direction Ron had disappeared she moved off to follow.

* * *

Jason Cummings slowly moved his jaw from side to side making sure it was still a part of his face. It had to because it hurt too much to be gone. Bret shuffled over and slowly sat down across from him, his face gaunt and pale. He wheezed as he sat down. Jason winced. The girl; Jason still had a hard time believing it, had nearly changed Bret's voice for him. As it was he could barely walk. Danny and Macon were still groggy and trying to clear their heads. He didn't know how this would go over at headquarters. Four of the U.S.'s best had been taken out just a pretty as you could please. Danny and Macon reported that the other subject had approached their position before disappearing. As they worked around to find out where he had gone they walked up on his pack. That was the last thing they remembered until they woke up with really bad headaches.

He had called for backup after he got his team back together. They looked like they had been through a meat grinder. He and Brent could barely move from what the girl had done to them. Danny and Macon were still woozy from whatever had his them. The backup team arrived and picked them up and carried them back to their base. All of them were immediately taken to debriefing. Instead of being briefed as a team they were each taken to separate rooms. The questioning seemed endless and generally was concentrated on the two people they had run into. He had turned over the equipment taken from the girl and most importantly the stocking caps that contained several strands of the girl's hair. An intelligence officer had placed the hat and the hair in a plain paper bag and that bag along with the equipment taken from the girl was placed on a helicopter that disappeared quickly after taking off.

After the debriefing they allowed to see the medics, get cleaned up and get something to eat. After getting some rest they were told they were confined to the base until further notice. Major Johnson, their commanding officer, told them that they would need to participate in a special briefing in a couple of days after tests were done on the hair and the equipment. Until then they were free to walk around the base but they could not speak to anyone about what they saw. All of the team vowed that they would see the pair again and payback would be interesting. Until then they would wait. The vision of the lithe body of the girl hurtling toward him would not be something that he would soon forget. Nor would the pain of his jaw go away soon.

* * *

Kim and Ron huddled under some low bushes just below the top of a small hill approximately a mile from a cluster of homes at the edge of a small town. They had been hiding under the bushes for the last two days waiting for this afternoon. Two days of blazing heat during the day and two night of freezing cold had made their watch very uncomfortable and both would definitely need a good shower once they were finished. If they were still alive that is.

Kim uncovered the spotting scope and trained it over the area of the two homes. Ron checked the Barrett XM500 sniper rifle that he had jumped with and had lovingly taken care off. Right now it would be their main tool, with a little help from Kim's spotting. As he ran his check over his rifle his thoughts went back to the sniper school he had gone through. Regimental Sargent Major Taggart had taken extreme glee in torturing him during his time there. But in the end, Ron passed the course as he had all his courses. Taggart had called him his greatest student.

Ron checked his settings on the scope and pulled his gilley suit closer around him. With the covering and camouflage they were wearing someone would have to practically step on them to find them. At least until he fired the first time. The resounding boom of the fifty caliber weapon would notify everyone in the area that someone had just received a world of hurt and they would be looking for the ones who had dealt the hurt out. A touch from Kim turned his thoughts back to the present. As he looked through his scope he noticed two cars approaching the houses. He sighted in on the first one. Kim spoke softly as she watched through her spotting scope.

"You have a quartering wind from the left, about 3 knots. The temperature is 80 degrees. The humidity is 30 percent. Range to the door of the first house is 1542 yards."

Ron used his foot to touch her leg to let her know that he had heard her and understood what she said. When he had seating himself behind the scope he didn't like to move the top part of his body much less even speak. To do so could change his sight picture and at the range he was shooting that could be all the difference between a kill or a miss. He watched as the two cars pulled up to the homes and stopped. They knew their target would exit the second car from the side facing them. All they had to do now is wait.

They watched as the door opened to the house and two men came out of the home. They recognized them immediately. They were two of the top men in the group they were after. But they were not the target for today. One of the men walked around to the passenger side of the first car and opened the door. A very tall and very familiar figure exited the car. Ron heard Kim gasp when she saw the figure. It was Big Daddy Brotherson's man; the same one Kim had to face on the raid of Brotherson's home. If he was here then Brotherson had a big part in what was going on. Another man got out of the other side of the car. This man they didn't recognize. Kim used the built in camera to her spotting scope to take a number of pictures. But recognizing people and taking pictures was not why they were here.

Ron sighting in on the passenger door of the second car and waited. The door opened and the man they knew as Mr. Habari stepped out of the car. Ron sighted in quickly and started to squeeze the trigger. The instant the weapon fired Habari jerked forward to pick up something he dropped. Ron watched in disbelief as the bullet must have passed just over the back of his head and struck the man on the other side of the car. The impact of the bullet slammed the other man to the ground. Even at this range Ron could see the blood splash. His round had struck the other man in the chest. Kim cursed as she watched as the guards yanked Mr. Habari into the home as they surrounded the area. Brotherson's man just sneered at the sights and disappeared into the home. Ron spoke quickly to Ron.

"I think it's time to leave. I don't think we need to extend our stay any longer."

Ron nodded as he picked up his rifle as Kim picked up the rest of their equipment. They slipped over the side of the hill and disappeared into the rocks that littered the gully at the rear of the hill.

Mr. Habari struggled against his body guards as he forced his way back out of the house. He crawled over to the body of his youngest brother. This was the first big meeting the young man had earned the right to be at. Habari had been working with him to bring him along with his vision of the future. Now his youngest brother lay like a limp rag on the ground behind the car. The bullet that had hit him had been meant for him. There was no doubt about it. He heard the whip crack of the bullet as it passed just behind his head. If he hadn't dropped his phone the bullet would have popped his head like a melon. Now he was alive and his cherished little brother lay nearly blown in half by the bullet that had hit him. The single shot had reverberated throughout the small valley they were in.

The shot without a doubt came from the hilly area that the homes faced. There was little hope of finding the shooter. A shot like that had to have come from long range and the shooter would have exited the area immediately. Habari called upon the gods of his forefathers to grant him vengeance on the person or person who had killed his brother.

Just inside the door Mr. Brotherson's man dialed his satellite phone and spoke softly into it. He shook his head as the conversation continued.

* * *

Jason and his men stood around the small room where they had been asked to be. It had been a week or so since their mission in the desert where they met the couple that had put them down with ease.

Major Johnson walked into the room where the men were and motioned for them to have a seat. Another man in street clothes came in with him. The group exchanged glances. The other man had to be a spook. Major Johnson sat down at the table across from Jason and the other man sat next to him. The spook had file with him that he opened and pulled a number of sheets of paper and a few photos out. The Major looked at his men.

"Gentlemen, this is Mr. Brannigan. We believe he has line on the couple that you encountered the other night."

Jason rolled his jaw around a little.

"Encountered sir? We got our butts kicked by a little girl and some other people."

The man smiled.

"Have no second thoughts Lt. You may just get the chance to tell your grandchildren one day that you actually had to fight one of the finest agent teams in the world. This couple would put 007 to shame."

Jason glanced at the man and grunted. The man pushed some pictures toward him. They were pictures of two people about high school age. Then there were a number of other pictures that he could tell were taken clandestinely of the same people but they were several years older. Then the last two pictures were the greatest shock. They were copies of two ID's. The issuing group had been removed from the pictures but it appeared the people in the pictures had very high clearance in the group. It was the names that caused his eyes to pop out.

"WHAT? No way they…. they are supposed to be…."

The man nodded.

"Yes, we know. They are supposed to be dead. The hairs you so kindly provided to us provided proof. We were able to do a DNA match on the hairs and checked it against records. It was positive."

The Major looked around the room.

"Gentlemen, this must never leave this room. There are less than a dozen people who know this information. This mission and its results have been classified Top Secret."

The men gathered around and went through the pictures and the papers. Macon pointed to a picture of Ron.

"That has to be him. I never got a real good look at him but I am almost positive."

The spook nodded.

"If the young lady was there, you can bet that the other person was her."

Bret picked up the pictures for a moment then placed them down.

"How sir?"

The spook sat back and poured a cup of water from a pitcher on the table.

"We aren't sure Sargent. I know this. These two were involved in stopping the purchase of a nuclear weapon from the former Soviet Union. While they were able to stop the sell the device detonated."

Brett broke in.

"I remember that. The story was that some faulty maintenance had caused it to blow."

The spook nodded.

"Yeah, that was the story but the real story was what happened later. You can imagine how the Russian Government felt. This almost caused a war. But cooler heads prevailed. Some over there wanted these two heads on a platter but they had enough friends to stop that. They had to agree to some terms but before the terms could be settled they "died"."

The spook waited for a moment, then started again.

"At least we thought they were dead. Their bodies, at least what was left of them were examined by the best pathologists. The results were positive. Except the DNA tests appeared to have been misplaced. They were buried with full military honors. The President himself gave the eulogy. There were no less than a dozen world leaders there, more than the last world leader funeral. I had to do some work at the Middleton Space Center for a few weeks after that. I worked close with the girl's father or at least what was left of the man at that point. Her family nearly came apart after that. I tried to help but what do you say to a father that has lost his daughter. The boy's family flat out disappeared. We found out later they immigrated to Israel. We closed our files on the two of them and marked it up to two lives ending before they should have. Then, in the last year or so a new counter terrorism team espionage team hit the ground out of the U.K."

The men had all taken seats and were listening intently.

"They were above and beyond anything ever seen. It was like they literally appeared from nowhere. We think they have run some pretty fancy operations. They have been credited with about a dozen KIAs, at least four of which were hand to hand."

The members of the teams glanced at each other. As long as they had been in their operations none of them had experienced that. Sure they had shot some of the enemy, but face to face? The man noticed the glances and continued on.

"They have also been credited with getting into some of the most secure places known and get out without too much harm to themselves. You got a real good glimpse of their handiwork when they took out that warehouse. They lived thorough explosions like that when they were teenagers. We dream of getting teams like this together. These two grew up together. They played together and cried together. They know each other to a point that they know what the other is going to do two steps BEFORE they even do it. I got to hand to it my friend in the UK. He really picked this one. SO! Gentlemen. Do not feel bad about coming out on the losing end of this little altercation. As well trained as you are I think you might have been outclassed before you even ran into this pair. Consider yourselves lucky that they recognized you as friendly troops. So they didn't kill you. They did make sure that you didn't bother them. But they could have just as easily done to you what they did to the guards of that warehouse. Congratulations gentlemen, you got your clocks cleaned by Kim Possible and Ron Stoppable. Known and loved by the world as Team Possible and now probably the most lethal and best kept secret in the world of dark ops."

* * *

Hi everyone. I hope that you enjoyed this chapter. The story continues. Please leave a review. I would appreciate it.


	5. Chapter 5

The Fox and The Sloth.  
Chapter Five.

* * *

Covington sat back in his chair in the same pub that he had visited before. The same young woman had come into his place of business with the proper identification phrase and communication phrase. It was the same request that a meeting be held at the pub at a certain time. He had finished about half of his pint when there was a slight knock at the door before it opened. Alton Brannigan walked into the room with Ivan Krashtinov following close behind. Alton carried a small briefcase which he set on the table. The waiter placed their drinks on the table and closed the door as he left.

Alton and Ivan took their seats and each took a sip of their drinks. Alton then stood and raised his glass for a toast.

"Here's to Kim Possible and Ron Stoppable, otherwise known as Team Possible."

Ivan stood and raised his glass to join Alton's and waited for a reaction from Covington. After a moment Covington joined the two of them and raised his glass and clicked them to the others. They all took a drink as they watched each other over their glasses. Taking their seats once again Alton pulled a file from his case as well as a paper bag. Opening the paper bag he removed two items in plastic bags. One contained a black stocking cap. The other contained what appeared to a number of auburn hairs.

Covington glanced at the bag with the stocking cap as he picked up the bag with the hairs in it. He slowly looked at the hairs in the bag as he tried to keep a straight face. He suspected that his counterparts knew something was up but when Alton gave his toast he knew the game was over. He tossed the bag back on the table.

"I do hope that your men were not injured permanently for obtaining that sample."

Alton's face twitched.

"Please assure your team that they were not PERMANENTLY injured, although their pride took a hard hit. One of them could barely walk; another had to eat using straw for a few days. The other two were so befuddled that someone had to watch them for a couple of days to make sure that they didn't get hurt."

Covington smiled for a moment.

"Let's do away with the games. You know who they are. How they came here is a story for another time."

Ivan grimaced.

"There are those in my government who will not be happy to learn that the two of them are still alive and not only alive but in the same business they were forbidden to take part in."

Ivan paused.

"But these are also the ones who would not want the old situation to be revisited. Such examination could reveal some uncomfortable findings."

Alton leaned forward.

"The past is the past. Right now, we have a very dangerous situation. We know Habari had negotiated with Brotherson to purchase a small Russian nuke, presumably from the same persons as before. Now due to the delicate political situation neither the U.S. nor Russia can run the risk of being implicated. If the situation was to get out of hand, and it was found that US or Russian forces were involved the implications could be very bad."

Covington sat back and nodded.

"So you want me to send in those two."

Ivan nodded.

"They have no nationality, no ties to any country, very little can be traced back. They are…"

Covington glared at him.

"You mean expendable."

Ivan shrugged his shoulders.

Covington thought for a moment.

"If they were to go in, and that is an if, and somehow by some miracle complete the mission and live through it, what are you prepared to offer in return? Also, what would you be willing to offer in support?"

Ivan was silent for a moment and with a glance over to Alton he spoke again.

"We might be able to have a group or two of special forces on hand, along with some other assets in order to assist."

Covington crossed his arms and sat back.

"And?"

Alton leaned forward.

"What do you want?"

Basil calmly regarded the two of his counterparts.

"You are asking these two to go out and save your collective butts. You are asking them to go and save the same two countries that destroyed their lives and the lives of their families for no other reason that some sob-sister diplomats and unimaginative desk jockeys couldn't deal with the situation. They were sitting back in their cute little offices tearing apart decisions made by two teenagers doing what needed to be done."

Basil knew he was on a rant but it was long coming.

"So these two kids went out with no training and no back up and did what your two governments should have done. And when something went wrong all you could do is destroy everything they had ever known. You wanted to destroy the only thing they had left and THAT was each other. WHY did you have to put that last requirement on them? Everything was fine until then. They would have gone on and been two normal teenagers. But NOOOOO. Somebody had to make a BIG statement and PUNISH two kids trying to do what was the right thing to do. So what did they do? The only thing they could do. Their friendship was more important to them than their very lives. So they would have rather died than give that up."

Basil took a gulp of his drink and sat it back down.

"Now, they are the BEST! I made them what they are today. I'll give some credit to what they were before I got them, but you have seen for yourselves what they are capable of."

Basil glared back at the two men who sat red-faced across from him. Shrugging his shoulders he continued.

"Sorry about that but that has been a long time coming. Here's the deal, take it or leave it. They will go in and deal with the situation. You will supply them with any and all backup and support that they need. IF they make it out they will receive full pardons for everything. I will leave the decision up to them what they want to do with it."

Ivan blanched.

"Do you have any idea of what could happen if they suddenly appear alive?"

Basil nodded.

"Yes, I do. However, I don't think that they would want to do that. I have a feeling that they would be completely happy just to remain in obscurity. What part their families would play in that decision would be up to them. BUT, if they wish to return to their lives, I'll leave it up to your governments to come up with the story."

Basil waited for a few moments and sat back with a smile on his face.

"Like I said. Take it or leave it."

* * *

Kim walked up behind Ron as he sat staring out of the window in their London flat. The seat and the window were the same as the ones she sat in and stared out when they had endured their "deaths" on the TV. The spot had become a little haven when one of them needed to think. He had not been talkative after they returned from their last mission. Even Rufus was concerned for his master and best friend. The mission to destroy the base had been an unqualified success while the other part of the mission had been a failure, at least in their eyes. They had sent in a report to Covington after they had left Turkey and returned to London.

There had been a few days of debriefing in their underground base. The same questions had been asked over and over again in several variations. Kim considered it was a miracle that she much less Ron had not punched someone out. Part of the debriefing had covered the results of their mission. Kim had a grim look of satisfaction when she learned of the damage she had done to the two special forces soldiers. The hard part of the debriefing had covered the shooting of the young man. While the main target had been missed it was still considered a partial success as it upset the time table of the other party. Kim was not so sure Ron agreed with that assessment.

Kim sat down behind him and started to slowly massage his shoulders. This was also a part that the window and seat played in their lives. When one needed to sit there the other was always on hand to help the other through the hard times. Slowly she worked on the knotted muscles trying to work the tenseness out of them. Ron didn't say a word as the ever present rain in London pattered against the window. It was well into the evening and there were very few people out on the streets. After a few minutes he sighed and started to speak.

"You know Karen, he was looking in our direction when I hit him. It was like he was looking right in my eyes as he died."

Kim stopped her massage and pulled him around to face her.

"Henry, you have to stop this. You have killed before what is wrong this time? You heard Covington. The guy may not have been the baddest of the bad but he was bad enough. Just the fact that he was there makes that a fact"

Ron giggled.

"baddest? Are you sure that is a word?

Kim giggled.

"Maybe, maybe not. But the fact still stands; he was a part of the problem. Sooner or later we or someone else would have had to take him out."

Ron sighed as he faced her.

"I know Karen; it's just that I got a good look at him. He couldn't have been out of high school."

Kim nodded.

"I know that Henry. Come on and get to bed. We are supposed to report to Covington first thing in the morning. Now come on."

She gently helped him start and got him moving toward the bedroom. She could only hope that he would be able to get some sleep.

* * *

Ron browsed through some information that Wade had sent them on a special type of assault rifle he was designing for him. Kim sat back in her chair with her eyes closed. They were waiting in Covington's office in their underground lair. Both of them looked up when Covington entered the room. He quickly took his seat while his driver brought coffee and some Danishes. Covington poured himself a mug of coffee and picked up one of the Danishes. He waited until Kim and Ron had done the same before he started to speak.

"Karen, Henry, good to see you. We have gone over your report. The young man you hit was Habari's youngest brother. He was an up and coming member of the group and was being groomed for a leadership position in the organization. He was considered to be an extremely dangerous person in his own right. His connection with the younger generation of his countrymen was considered to be a strong recruiting asset for the group. While his removal was by accident, it most likely would have been necessary to remove him within the near future."

Covington paused for a moment then continued.

"Now, the main concern is the other person that you identified. I am sure his face was familiar to both of you as you have seen him before. We have grave concerns over this person's involvement in the situation. He is employed by someone you are very familiar with and we have recently received some new intelligence on the overall situation. We are afraid the Mr. Habari and his associates are attempting to purchase a nuclear device for intentions of their own. We also have determined that this is not the first time the person in question has attempted to sell a nuclear device. He tried approximately 5 years ago but the attempt was thwarted."

Kim and Ron's eyes went wide as they looked at each other. Kim's voice stammered.

"You mean Brotherson was behind…"

Covington looked straight at them.

"That's right Karen. Brotherson was the person who arranged the sale that you two disrupted. That disruption led to the device detonating."

Covington waited for a few seconds and let that news sink into his agents.

"Now, there is information that the person you saw was there to finalize the arrangements for the purchase and transfer of a weapon. We know when and where that meeting will take place. We know several parties will be at that meeting. Your mission is simple. Prevent that trade from taking place. Collateral damage is not to be a consideration. Complete this mission with extreme prejudice. We will download the particulars to you within the next few hours. Get some rest and get ready. As you know, if you are killed or captured the British Government will disavow any knowledge of you or your actions. Good luck and it's been good working with you. I have arranged for someone to meet with you and brief you on a few things relevant to this mission. I will let you know when to expect them."

* * *

Big Daddy Brotherson sat back on his cushions. He had a headache of monumental proportions. He hoped that one day that he would be able to locate worthy associates other than his favorite man. So far, most if not all of the people he had associated himself with had disappointed him. DeLaurent was a prime example. The extra money lured DeLaurent. However, his new associate was worse. He was an idealist, worse than that a religious idealist. The man was arrogant beyond belief. Arrogance was something a man in his position could not afford. Like the need and love of money, arrogance could lead to poor decisions.

His new associate had told his man that the area was secure and that all deliveries should be made to that one warehouse. Then, when an outside force destroyed the warehouse, he still insisted on having the meeting close to the area. He assured Brotherson that the area was completely secure and that there was no way an opposing force could be in the area. Now the man's kid brother lay dead nearly blown in half by bullet meant for him. How could he trust the man when he could not take care of things in his own home?

However, there was something else nagging him. A certain face, a certain face of a young woman with red hair. She had been a part of the raid on DeLurent's estate and she had been a part of the raid on his own home. He was not sure but he thought that there was a very good chance that the same young lady or her associate had something to do with the blown warehouse and the assassination attempt. He still had people looking for her but so far, nothing could be located.

Now was the time to complete the deal for the nuke. The down payment had been transferred to the proper accounts. His man had received that after the attempt on Habari's life. Now Habari was on his way to Brotherson's estate with the final payment. His man stayed behind doing a little looking around on his own. Brotherson didn't trust Habari's men and wanted his own men on the ground in the area. They had some special equipment that should help find the people causing him so much trouble. That is if they were still in the area.

A knock on the door brought him back to the present. His computer man was supposed to bring some reports for his review.

"Come in." He called out.

His computer expert came in cautiously. After his last conversation he had completed his duties without any problems. The man handed Brotherson a file with the reports in it. Brotherson smiled.

"Thank you sir. I hope that everything is going well."

His expert nodded.

"Yes sir, Mr. Brotherson sir. If you need anything else please let me know. I am going to the document shredding room to destroy these old files."

At that moment the file that he had been working with when he had found the names of the two that had invaded Laurent's estate fell from his arms. A picture spilled from the file and landed face up in front of Brotherson. It was a picture of Kim. The expert moved quickly to pick up the papers.

"Sorry Mr. Brotherson sir. I'll get all this cleaned up now."

Brotherson raised his hand to stop him.

"Just a moment sir, how did you come into possession of that picture?"

The expert started to sweat a little.

"That is the file I was going to show you when you wanted me to go back to the main project. I promise I haven't touched the file since then and was on the way to destroy it by your instructions."

Brotherson motioned for the man to hand him the file.

"It is fine sir. Would you please hand me that file?"

The man handed the file to Brotherson and waited. Brotherson glanced through the file and realized something that caused his headache to ache even more. He had fallen guilty of the same thing he detested in others. He had allowed his own ego to interfere with his operations. The man in front of him had found the exact data that all of the other persons in his organizations could not. And he was getting ready to punish the man for doing exactly what needed to be done.

"Sir, do you have any more information of this type?"

The expert thought for a moment.

"I should be able to locate some more. Now that I know what I am looking for it should not be a problem."

Brotherson smiled.

"Then do so my friend. Please pardon my actions before, that was my mistake and I mean to correct it now. Please do not work on anything else but this. Report only to me or my man. You have earned a nice bonus."

The expert smiled as he backed out of the room.

"Yes sir. I should have some more information soon. I'll let you know as soon as I find it."

Brotherson waited until the man had left the room before picking up his phone and calling his man.

"I have come into some very important information. Please go to a secure location so that I can brief you. We have found our mysterious women and I must say that this information could rock the world."

Brotherson listened for a few moments as his man spoke to him. His expression changed as he continued to listen.

"That is very interesting. Now we know where our visitor got some of her information, and how they were able to cause so many problems. I wish to speak with him. Please bring him to me.

* * *

Kim placed the last plate in the dish drainer and pulled the stopper to drain the sink of the dirty dish water. Even though she was an accomplished agent, expert in several types of combat and weapons, she was still almost totally inept in the kitchen. Ron had been teaching and coaching her over the years she still needed supervision when she tried cooking. Overtime she had gained the ability to fix a salad or a bowl of soup. Since she could only do the simple things Ron was responsible for most of the cooking. As Ron did the cooking she took over the washing of the dishes, a job she was just finishing. The person that Covington had mentioned earlier was supposed to contact them at their apartment today so they were just trying to relax. The buzzer to their apartment buzzed as she hung up the dish towel. Walking over to the speaker she pressed the intercom that answered the front door.

"Yes?"

A somewhat familiar voice came over the speaker.

"Special delivery for Karen Thompson from Coco Banana."

Kim glanced over to Ron as he stepped toward her. Those were the code words the person coming to meet them was supposed to say. She pressed the speaker button again as she pressed the button to open the front door.

"Come in."

Kim stepped back from the speaker and stepped over to wait for the knock on the door. If the person was legit they would knock in an arranged pattern. Ron stepped back behind the door in case however remote the person was not who they were supposed to be. He snapped off the safety to his pistol just before there was a knock at the door. One tap, followed by four quick taps, then two more. Kim nodded to Ron and looked at the screen from the security camera built into the door. She gave a small gasp and pulled the door open to reveal none other but Dr. Betty Director and a visibly shaken William Du standing in front of the door. Kim struggled to find her voice.

"Dr. Director? Du?"

Ron jumped around the corner of the door to see Betty gave a small smile.

"It's good to see you are well Karen, you too Henry. May Will and I enter?"

Kim could barely nod as she stepped aside to motion two people she thought she would never see again into the room. Betty stepped into the room dragging Will by the arm. Ron holstered his pistol behind his back and faced the pair as Kim closed and locked the door. Betty turned to face them.

"Can we all have a seat? I am sure you have some questions and I have some packages for the two of you."

Ron motioned to the sitting area in the middle of the room. Betty drug Will over to the couch and sat both of them down. Kim and Ron took the seats across from them. Betty took a deep breath and spoke.

"Karen, Henry. I would imagine this is quite a surprise."

Will broke in.

"Dr. Director? How?"

Betty turned to her top agent.

"Will, since your promotion came through last week I told you that I would inform you of some information that you would need to know. You didn't have the clearance before then."

She motioned to Kim and Ron.

"Will, I would like you to meet Red Fox and Pink Sloth."

Ron smiled.

"Hiya, dude. Long time no see."

Will was shocked. It was his voice. He could not get his mind around that the agent in front of him was the same bumbling teen from years before. He gazed over to Kim. She had filled out nicely over the years. He could not get his mind to accept that these were the two people he used to know. He knew about Red Fox and Pink Sloth after having read a number of reports on them after his promotion. The one thing Dr. Director had not told him was just who they really were.

Kim giggled.

"I thought I would never see Will in a brain lock."

Betty laughed.

"I didn't tell him who he would be seeing."

She paused for a moment as a tear slipped from her eye.

"It's really, really good to see you two."

Kim got up and enveloped her former boss and friend in a fierce hug. After a few moments they separated and took their seats. Betty looked over at Ron.

"You sure have changed Henry. You are quite handsome and there is no doubt that you are a true professional."

Ron blushed slightly.

"Dr. D…"

He hesitated for a moment.

"Dr. Director, speaking of which what is our Dr. D doing these days?"

Betty settled back in her chair.

"We came to an understanding recently. I would not unleash the Fox and the Sloth on him and he and Shego would behave themselves. After you made a laughingstock of Brotherson, they decided they didn't care to chance a visit from you. The rest of the others we took care of ourselves over the years."

Kim nodded toward the suitcases Will was carrying.

"Are those from Wade?"

Will nodded.

"Yes, he said that they should help you on your next mission."

He pushed the two cases over to Kim. She opened them up to reveal two short stubby weapons that looked very futuristic. Betty nodded to the weapon and started to speak.

"You are holding the newest thing in silent weaponry. I am sure you have heard of rail gun technology. Wade made a breakthrough to bring the scale down to this. The weapon fires by hurling the bullets down the barrel with magnetic forces. This makes for an extremely silent weapon. When you first use it, you will set you biometric readings into the memory. If someone else attempts to use or even hold the weapon it will self-destruct."

Ron smiled as he picked up one of the weapons. Du watched as the person he once considered to be one of the clumsiest people he had ever known go of the weapon with the ease of a seasoned agent. Ron checked the feel and weight of the weapon as he slipped it from hand to hand.

"It is well balanced, I can't wait to get it out on the range and try it out."

Betty smiled for a moment and then turned serious.

"Now, Karen and Henry, I ask that you listen very carefully. Basil has asked me to brief you on the next part of your mission. We have been in touch with your contact person that met you last time. He is ready to help you enter the area. Due to the trouble you caused last time we will have to insert you one at a time. Karen you will go first and Henry will follow 24 hours later. We believe the transaction for the nuke will occur within 48 hours after that. Your contact should have more information when you meet him."

Kim nodded.

"Okay, when do we leave?"

Betty glanced at her watch.

"William and I will leave now. A taxi with a large scratch on the side will arrive in front of your flat tomorrow morning at 0800 hours. You will each take a suitcase to make it appear that you will be going on a trip. Wade will have all of your equipment ready along with all of your transportation."

Betty stood up. Will quickly stood beside her, leaving the weapons on the table.

"Will and I will leave so you can prepare. Karen, Henry; is has been good to see you again."

Ron walked over and opened the door so Betty and Will could leave. Betty shook Kim and Ron's hands as she left. Will followed behind her and out the front door. As they got in the van that was their cover vehicle he turned to speak to her.

"Dr. Director, how did this happen? I mean the CIA, NSA, and the KGB will freak if they find out what is going on."

Betty clutched the steering wheel tightly.

"Will, need I remind you that we are a part of GLOBAL Justice. I don't care one bit what the CIA, NSA or KGB might think. Those two were good operatives back then and now they are the best in the world."

Betty noticed the flush on her subordinates face.

"Yes Will, they are better than you. You are a fine operative and you have several successful missions under your belt. However, what is your KIA count?"

Will stammered for a moment.

"Dr. Director, you know that I have never killed."

Betty put the van in gear after cranking the engine.

"Yes Will I know that. But Fox and Sloth have several KIA to their credit, at least four of those hand to hand. I know what your opinion of them was back then. But I want you to think about it. Those two have killed someone while looking them in the eye and didn't hesitate or flinch. That's what this mission is going to take. Now, we need to get back. I want you to coordinate with Fox and Sloth, and any of the intelligence community that will be a part of the mission."

Will sat back in his seat.

"Yes, ma'am."

He watched the traffic on the street in front of them as his mind raced.

* * *

Kim let the water scooter pull her through the water toward the shore. Her landing spot was near the city of Rize, Turkey. This was several kilometers from Trabzon, where they had the mission before. The transfer of the nuke was supposed to be near the area. Ron would drop into the area in another day. The two ways of entry spaced a day apart was planned to keep things as low key as possible. Covington advised that this would be the best way. Their last two visits to Turkey had upset a lot of people. She was to make her way to a local safe house. Bahadur and Anna would meet her there and take her to another safe house to wait for Ron to arrive. They would then prepare to stop the transfer of the device.

She checked her compass and clock again. She should be near the shore within a few minutes. It would be a cloudy night. That would make it a little easier to get ashore. The safe house was near the shore and she would be able to reach it without any trouble. Turning a few degrees to the right, she made her final turn before she would surface. Even in the dim light she could see the surface of the water. She slowed the scooter down just before breaking the surface of the water. Gently she raised her head above the water and looked around. She could see the shore about 100 yards away. The shore was rocky and a two lane road run just the other side of the shore line. She would have to cross the rocks and the road without being seen. Then she would have to find her way to the safe house. If a certain light was on in the house then it was safe to approach. If the light was not on, then she was supposed to head back out to sea. They had received the all clear signal before she had even left the minisub with the scooter. The light was an extra precaution.

Slipping up on the rocks, she waited for a few minutes watching the area before she moved again. No one was moving at this time of morning. Crossing the road, she melted into the brush on the other side of the road. She buried her equipment under some bushes and headed for the safe house. Within a few minutes she arrived at the house. The light was on. Slowly she approached the home and waiting a little longer. Nothing was moving and only the sound of a radio came from the home. Slipping up through the shadows she knocked on the front door. She heard Anna's voice call out softly.

"Enter."

Kim turned the doorknob and pushed the door open. The only light in the room was the television turned all the way down. Anna was sitting facing the television. Kim stepped toward her.

"Anna, it is good to see you again… Anna."

Kim grew concerned for a moment when Anna didn't respond. She stepped forward and faced Anna. Her heart leapt to her throat. Anna was dead. Her throat had been cut. Before that she had been brutally beaten. Kim was about to move when everything went black.

* * *

Pain soared through her head as she slowly regained her senses. She quickly realized that she was strapped to a chair. Opening her eyes was an effort as the light hurt her eyes. A voice came from behind the light.

"Ah the wench is awake."

A hard slap snapped her head to the right. She turned her head back as she opened her eyes fully. The man she knew as Habari was standing in front of her. He raised his hand again for another slap when a voice behind her spoke.

"My friend, please do not do that again. I wish to speak to her without interference from you."

Kim knew she had heard that voice before. It was then that someone spun her chair around. Another face came into view. A face she knew well. The face smiled.

"Well, well. A pretty face to match a pretty picture. I have been waiting a long time for this meeting."

Brother stared at Kim from his seat in front of her. He placed his hands in a steepled position in front of him.

"We are now going to have a little conversation. I will ask the questions and you will answer. This could be very pleasant or very unpleasant."

Kim watched as the large man she had seen at the house stepped from the shadows. He held a blowtorch in his hand. Turning the knob he open the valve to the burner and clicked a striker in front of it. A bright blue flame erupted from the blowtorch with a slight roar. Brotherson placed his hands in his lad.

"Now shall we begin?"

* * *

Well, it has been a long time since I have written anything. It sure feels good to be back, at least for a little while. A lot has been going on in my life and it was been very difficult to find time to write or even to have the thoughts to put on the pages. I hope you have enjoyed this installment of The Fox and the Sloth. Things are heating up now so stay tuned. Hopefully the next chapter will not take so long. Thanks for reading and please leave a review.


	6. Chapter 6

**The Fox and the Sloth**  
**Chapter 6**

* * *

Ron was concerned. Okay, he was more than concerned, he was climbing the walls. Kim had not sent the private signal confirming that she was okay and in the safe house. They had set up the idea of the code up just before she had left as just a little more insurance. Now he knew something was wrong. He had tried to check with his contacts but no one could be found. Then he received word that Anna had been found dead, the safe house had been ransacked and Kim was nowhere to be found. This could only mean one thing. They were blown and Kim had been captured or killed. His first thought had been to locate Kim as soon as he could but Covington nixed the idea. First, no body had been found up to that point so they could only hope that Kim was alive. Second, if she was captured then their cover had been blown. To go rushing in would not be a good idea without another plan of action. Third, if she was captured and still alive they would be questioning her. While she was a good agent, a person could only hold out for so long.

That last reason almost caused Ron to leave right then in order to get to Kim before something bad happened. There had nearly been a fight but Covington had laid it all out on the line. While Kim was important, the mission was of greater importance. Then he had looked Ron straight in the eye and asked what would Kim tell him to do.

That had stopped the argument from going any further. Ron had gathered up Rufus and set up his entrance to the area. If the other side knew that Kim was coming there was a good bet that they knew when and where he was supposed to land. The first thing they would have to do is find a new way for him to get in. The area where Kim landed and the area where he was supposed to land would be covered. A plan was quickly brought together. Since they were expecting him by air they would send in a dummy mission and literally send in a dummy on schedule and to the scheduled place. That would at least keep them busy until the dummy was found. As all that happened he would go in by water.

There was no doubt as to the target of the mission. It would be Brotherson's estate on the cliffs overlooking the sea. Intelligence on the people wanting to buy the bomb had provided a date at the estate where the handover of the money and the device would take place. Wade had made a check of the area and located a sea cave beneath Brotherson's estate. This would give him a spot to land and make his way up to the estate. While Brotherson had increased his security it still could be defeated from the inside. The inside access would be provided by one naked mole rat by the name of Rufus. Ron and Rufus would land under the estate and while Ron waited Rufus would get into the estate and insert a device that would give Wade access to Brotherson's systems.

Ron checked his Kimmunicator that was attached to his wrist. He and Rufus were nestled up in the cave under Brotherson's estate and were waiting for a plane to drop the dummy on the spot where he was supposed to land according to the original plan. The dummy was actually one of Drakken's old synthodrones. It would look like him and act like him but would not be him. Wade and Ron hoped that the distraction would cause enough problems at the estate so that Rufus and later Ron could get in. Ron checked the time and nodded to Rufus.

"You're on little buddy. Get in there, stick the thing in Brotherson's computer and then find her."

Rufus gave Ron a salute and scampered out of the cave and up the cliff toward the house. Ron thought that he should not have a problem getting in. The security was set up to keep people out not rats so he should be able to get in without a problem. Later, after Wade gained control of the security system then he should be able to get in. Then it would be time for payback. He hefted the new weapon that Dr. Director had delivered to them. Both of them had practiced with their own and the others weapons. Both weapons were set to recognize only their physical parameters. If anyone else tried to use it, well, that would be the last time they would use anything. Ron settled back against the wall of the cave and waited for the call from Wade. He looked up like he was gazing through the rock toward Kim.

"I'll be there soon KP. Hang in there."

* * *

Kim lay on the floor of the room they had tossed her in some interminable time before. Her hands were handcuffed behind her back and shackles were around her ankles. She had no idea what time it was or even what day it was. The light in her room never went off and her questioners came in at odd times. At first Brotherson had just asked questions of which she didn't answer. Then they proceeded to beat her senseless. Sometimes strapped to a chair other times they hung her up by her wrists. It had been going on for who knows how long. Now the door opened again and Brotherson stood outside the door with a number of his goons.

"Ahh, I see that you plan to be difficult and not answer my questions. Before we proceed any further allow me to meet one of your compatriots who has been a guest of mine before you came. It was he that gave us the information that enabled us to be able to greet you. He was just a uncooperative as you, but we were able to convince him to speak to us and give us the answers that we desired. "

The man behind Brotherson stepped from behind him and walked toward Kim. Her heart caught in the throat for a moment. She knew someone had to have told them about the mission but she didn't know who it could have been. Only a very few people knew that she and Ron were coming and she knew that Anna was already dead. The man picked up Kim and dragged her to her feet, her ankle shackles clinking. Another guard grabbed her other arm and they dragged her from the room and down the hall. They took a couple of turns before they came to another door. The door opened and they pulled her into the room. She gazed into the room a bruised and puffy face. One of her eyes was blackened and half closed but she could still see. What she saw sickened her. A man sat in a chair in the middle of the room. It was Bahadur.

Bahadur sat strapped to a chair in the center of the room. The front of his shirt darkened from a tarry like substance, his breaths came in a hiccup like fashion. His eyes were open but the corneas were clouded pure white. He gasped for breath for a few more moments before he started to retch and gag. He suddenly vomited up a thick tarry like substance that spilled down his front and puddled on the floor. Her captor pushed her closer. The smell of blood came to her nostrils. As she got closer she could tell he had been beaten and some type of hot object had be pressed against skin is places.

Kim forced back the bile that rose in her throat from the smell. Bahadur had fouled himself sometime during is questioning. He started to gag again and brought up even more black liquid. Her captor held her close as Brotherson spoke.

"Yes, he was quite uncooperative but we were able to show him the error of his ways. You may notice his eyes. We placed drops of bleach into each of his eyes and let that settle for a little while. As he was still uncooperative we forced him to drink a solution of water, detergent and drain cleaner. The liquid started to eat away the lining of his stomach and intestines almost immediately. You can imagine the pain that would cause. We made a deal with him. He would tell us what we wanted and we would put him out of his misery."

Kim watched as Bahadur continued to struggle for breath. There was no telling how long he had been like this. She glanced over to glare at Brotherson.

"Why don't you put him out of his misery? Or don't you keep your word? Maybe you get your jollies watching a man suffer or you just wanted me to see what is in store for me?"

Brotherson remained calm as his face saddened somewhat.

"Oh I keep my word. There is no doubt about that. Yes, I did keep him here and alive until you had seen him, mainly to show you the futility of not giving me what I want."

Brotherson nodded to one of the guards standing in the room. The man drew his pistol and fired a single shot into Bahadur's head. Blood and brains spattered onto the floor in front of Kim. Bahadur sagged down into his chair and ceased breathing. Brotherson waited for a few seconds as she stared to the man who had been her friend. Brotherson clapped his hands and two guards stepped forward to grab Kim by each arm. They turned her to face him.

"I have no intention to using the same procedure on you. While it is very successful, it does take a rather long time, time that I do not have to get my answers. I have something else for you. Besides it would be a shame to ruin those pretty eyes that way. The other procedure ruins the body and I have plans for yours."

Brotherson nodded and the guards pulled Kim out of the room.

* * *

Rufus slowly made his way up the side of the cliff and searched for a way into the mansion. It didn't take him a long time to find a hole that he could use to find his way in. He looked around and took a few quick sniffs. He could tell that there were at least three guards in the area. One had Chinese for lunch while the other had had a pastrami with rye with a dollop of brown mustard. Rufus crawled along one of the cable runs pausing every so often to listen and smell. He saw what he was looking for quickly. The computer cable runs coming together. When he followed them he would be able to find the main computer.

He followed the main cable run until they entered a medium sized room near the bottom of the complex. He stopped just at point where the cables ran out of the wall and into the room and into the banks of computers. No one was in the room. Stealthily, he crawled out of the wall and headed for his target. Wade had shown him a number of pictures of what to look for. Approaching what appeared to be the main computer and it's server he removed the special USB unit from the little pack his was carrying. Quickly he plugged it into the computer and pressed the control that would connect it to the computer and signal Wade to start to work. He was rewarded with a quiet beep and the lights of the connection began to blink rapidly. Rufus grinned as he scampered back into the wall.

Baghel, the leader of the group of men glanced at his watch. His mentor Habari had given him this mission when he begged for the honor of capturing the man that had caused his mentor and friend a great deal of problems. Hopefully, this mission would go as smoothly as the one had where they captured the red-headed wench. If almost made him sick to his stomach to think that a woman had done what she had done. There were no doubt she had taken an active part in the destruction of the warehouse and the assassination of Habari's brother.

It had been a great pleasure of his to capture the traitor that had been assisting the couple. Then he had captured and beaten the wench that ran that store and had assisted the agents before. It had been his honor to beat the woman before slitting her throat. Then all they had to do was to wait for the first agent to land. He himself had coldcocked the hussy. It would have been nice to have a little personal entertainment with her but his orders had been quite clear. He had picked up her limp body and transferred her into Habari's hands. Hopefully, he would have a chance to join in on the fun later.

Right now they were waiting for the man to arrive. He would be arriving by parachute on the small meadow that was below him on the side of the ridge. His instructions were to capture him if possible, but a dead body would be just as good. He checked his watch and then signaled the men that were with him that it was time. He turned on the radio that they had taken from the home of the traitor. The tortured man and told them everything about the procedure for him to arrive. Coded signals would be exchanged between the man who was arriving and the radio he was holding. If the signals were not sent then the man would know that the area was compromised and not land. It was at that moment that his radio beeped and the first signal arrived. He quickly sent the all clear signal and waited.

Baghel didn't have long to wait. The man next to him slapped him on the arms and pointed into the air above the meadow. He could barely make out the slim figure hanging from the parachute shroud lines as it dropped from the sky. The man smiled right on time. He pulled the shawl around his face and started walking toward the figure as he gathered the chute around him. The man carried the radio with him so when the figure turned to look at him he would assume it was the man that was expecting him. The man turned his back to him as he gathered his equipment. Baghel slipped the club from his sleeve and smashed it onto the back of the agent's head. The man fell to the ground with a thud.

* * *

The guards dragged Kim down the basement hall while Brotherson and Habari followed behind. They approached a door at the end of a hall. The first guard opened the door and walked in a small room. The other guards pulled Kim into the room while the first turned on the lights. Kim could see another door on the far wall. The guard opened that door and stood to the side. The other guards carried Kim into the room. She saw an unusual room with a chair in the middle. The chair was heavy wood with straps. The walls had conical and wedge shaped foam pieces coming from them. The guards strapped Kim to the chair and left the room. Brotherson spoke from behind her.

"This is a new idea of mine. I have used this room when answers but I desire the body afterward to be in good condition. The mind might be mush, but the body will be okay. You don't need the mind for what we have planned. You see young lady this is an Anechoic Chamber. The walls, ceiling and floor literally absorb all sound. You see, the human mind desires, covets stimulation. In this room there will be little of the above. You will be aware of any noise, even the beating of your own heart, the actual sound of the air moving in and out of your lungs. The lack of stimulus does wonders on the mind. Most of the prior residents of the room have had hallucinations after 30 or so minutes. A few hours or more their minds were gone. Now I shall leave you here for a few minutes and then return for a few more questions. I am sure by then you will be craving any noise and will be willing to do anything to have more. Goodbye for now."

There was a pause.

"Oh, also. There is no light within here, at least none that a human can see. We do have to keep a watch on you. So you shall be without light and noise. If you want it back then you shall answer my questions."

Kim heard the door shut and then the lights went out. She struggled to hear anything until she realized that she could hear herself breathing. She could not see anything. This was not good. Torture and beatings they had been trained to resist. But this, there was no way to face this.

"Henry, please help me."

* * *

Jason, Brett, Danny, Macon and the rest of their Special Forces team sat back in the room where they were waiting for their briefing. The Mr. Brannigan had spoken to them before to prepare them for this meeting. All he would say was that they were going to be part of a multi-national strike force to try and stop the sale of a nuclear weapon. He didn't say just who that was going to be but from their commander's action and Mr. Brannigan's actions they were not exactly pleased with the other side. The door opened and a tall ruddy faced man walked into the room. Behind him a group of tough looking and lean men walked in. They wore Russian military uniforms. Jason and Brett exchanged glances, this was getting interesting.

The man who walked in walked over to the man they knew as Brannigan.

"Well, we are here. Shall we get started? Do you wish to make the introductions or shall I?"

Brannigan nodded to him.

"I'll do it."

Brannigan stood and motioned for the new arrivals to take a seat. The men took the seats on the other side of the table from Jason and his team. Brannigan spoke as they sat down.

"Gentlemen, my name is Mr. Brannigan. Mr. Krashtinov and I will be overseeing this operation. There is one more counterpart of ours that is part of this operation; however he will not present at this time. Representing the U.S. is Lt. Jason Kirby and his team. They are members of the U.S. Special Forces."

Brannigan motioned of Jason and his men to stand. Jason nodded to his men and they all stood for a few moments as Brannigan continued.

"Lt. Kirby and his men have been operating in this area and are also familiar with the third team that is a part of this operation."

Brannigan motioned for Jason and his men to sit and motioned for the other men to stand. The other men stood and stood at ease as Brannigan continued.

"This is Lt. Yakov Demenok and his team. They are representing the Russian Federation in this operation. They are members of the Speznaz. They are members of this operation as they are familiar with the type of weapon that is a part of this operation." Brannigan nodded to Demenok as he and his men took a seat. He then continued. "There is a third part of this operation. They are a two person team operating out of the UK. They are not UK nationals and at this point their nationality is unknown." Jason watched the eyebrows of the opposite team widen and narrow at the same time. Brannigan continued. "This team is familiar with both of the men that are targets of this operation. They are also familiar with the mansion as they have infiltrated it before. They are also familiar with the weapon in question and have handled one before." Yakov was about to say something when Krashtinov shook his head. Yakov settled down and nodded for Brannigan to continue.

"Gentlemen, we are facing a difficult problem. A nuclear device has been stolen from the Russian government stockpile. A known weapons dealer is responsible. He is planning to sell it to a Mr. Habari, a known terrorist. We think they plan to use it on a U.S. military base to destabilize the area. You gentlemen have been called it to assist in a strike on the dealer's residence where he is currently holding the weapon. Our Mr. Habari is also in attendance to make the final payment and to acquire the device. The two of them will infiltrate at separate times in order to approach the mansion from two different directions. You will be dropped into the area immediately afterwards and will standby in case you are needed. My counterpart will now continue the briefing."

* * *

Kim struggled uselessly against the straps that bound her to the chair. Her heart was racing and her breaths came in gasps. The hallucinations had started some time ago. Apparitions appeared and disappeared in the darkness as sounds seem to come from nowhere. But she knew that was nothing there. Her body was trying to make something out of the nothing that was out there. She started to hear her heartbeat soon after she was left alone. Then it was as if every breath sounded like a gale.

All her training had been for questions after question. She had been trained to deal with the pain of physical torture. She had also been trained against the mind games that had been played before. She and Ron had even gone through a several week program of escape/evasion/questioning. Some of the things the instructors had done to them had been pretty bad. But this was above and beyond what had been done to them. She didn't know how much longer she could take this. Just before she was getting ready to lose it the lights came on and the door opened. The guards came into the room and started to unstrap her. They quickly handcuffed her hands behind her back and dragged her from the room.

The guards dragged her down another hall to another room. They hauled her into the room and dropped her into a chair in the middle of the room. They strapped her in and stood to the side. Brotherson's man was standing there along with Habari and another man. There were also a number of other guards in the room. Brotherson sat in another chair along the wall beside her. There was an empty chair in front of her.

"Well my dear, I thought we might add a little extra spice to our conversation. Unless you wish to go back to your little room."

Kim's heart rate started to go up and she had no doubt that the expression on her face told him all he needed to know. A thin little smile spread across his face.

"Ah, I see that the thought of going back to my little playroom is not something that you would wish to do. We shall see. First I believe a little reunion is in store."

Her eyes went wide when more guards came into the room from the other end. They were dragging a man between them. Kim moaned as she recognized the figure. The guards tossed Ron into the chair and quickly tied him to it. He has really disheveled and she could tell he had taken quite a beating. Her voice croaked out.

"Henry?"

Brotherson smiled.

"Well, what a fine little reunion. It's a shame that pitiful Dr. Drakken and his lovely assistant Shego are not here. We could have quite a reunion."

Brotherson paused of a moment.

"Now we shall be start again. I shall ask a question and you will answer. At the first refusal to answer my questions, my men will break your companion's legs. At the second refusal to answer my questions, they will break his arms. At the third refusal I fear that I might lose my patience with you and have my men shoot your companion right in front of you. Then you will be return to your room where you will stay until you brain turns to mush. Now I will repeat my questions. Who sent you?"

Kim pressed her lips together and shook her head. Brotherson sighed and nodded. Two of the men stepped forward with what appeared to be iron rods. With two quick blows they struck Ron's legs. Kim swore she heard the bones snap. Brotherson asked again.

"I have an idea of who you are but how did you get here and why?"

Kim closed her eyes and shook her head. She knew what she had to do even though it broke her heart and soul to do it. Brotherson sighed again.

"Don't bother. Shoot him and make sure she watches. Then place her back in the room."

Kim snapped her eyes open with fear. Ron stared into her eyes and smiled.

"It's okay KP. I am going to be with Erik."

Kim thought for a moment. "What? Eric? Why would he say….?"

The guard standing next to Ron pulled his pistol from his holster and shot Ron in the head. A bright green fountain of liquid poured out of the hole. The men in the room started to shout in several different languages as the thing they thought was Ron shriveled in the chair. Then there was a loud boom and the room shook hard enough for dust to settle from the ceiling. A smile crossed Kim's face as alarms started to sound. The men in the room started screaming at each other and over their radios. Kim had no doubt what was going on. Ron was here.

* * *

The Kimmunicator on Ron's LBE buzzed. He tapped the switch on his body armor and Wade's image appeared in the screen on his visor.

"Rufus is in. I've take control of the security system and have loaded fake video into cameras two and five. You should be able to get in through the door that we planned. Also, dummy Ron's drop went on schedule and as planned. The chip shows that he got a blow to the back of the head and he dropped as planned. He is being transported as we speak and will arrive in about a couple of hours. I have located Karen by checking a number of security cameras. She hasn't broke yet. They have done some pretty nasty things to her but so far she is okay. I'll keep you posted. Move out and I'll monitor. Watch for roving patrols. I have a drone over you so I should be able to give you a heads up."

Ron nodded as he spoke.

"Acknowledged and on the move. If they hurt her, really hurt her, I'll kill'em."

Wade didn't say anything as Ron cut the link.

Covington watched the feed from the drone on one of the screens before him. He sat in a communications room deep within the HMS Glowworm. The other screens showed biometric readouts from Ron as well as a feed from the camera on his visor. They would be able see everything live. Nearby were the USS Ramage and the Revnostnyy from the Russian navy. All were linked together. Covington had watched Ron leave and make his way toward shore. His counterparts were on their ships. Their units were already on the ground around the estate. They were the backup. If the Fox and Sloth failed then the other teams would go in. It had been decided that there was no way they would allow the bomb to be delivered into the hands of the terrorist. If the two teams could not get to the bomb then the three frigates would fire their missles. If the teams were unable to stop the handover of the bomb, a missile strike would cauterize the area.

Covington glanced down at the two files that lay beside him on the table. They bore the names of Red Fox and Pink Sloth. If all went as he hoped, the world would never know what happened. The two teams from the U.S. and Russia would receive the credit for stopping the bomb and the Fox and the Sloth would remain in obscurity. While the offer was on the table for them to do otherwise he expected them to remain hidden. They had made new lives together and their new lives would not fit into their old lives. If they came out of the hidden world they would be placing their families in danger. Enemies old and new would not have any qualms about blowing up a building if they could get at one of the family members.

There was a soft beep and a notice appeared on one of the screens. Covington looked up to see that dot that was Ron at the edge of the building. He was going in.

* * *

The President sat back in his chair in the Situation Room deep beneath the White House. Around him were the Secretary of State, the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, a number of the Joint Chiefs, the head of the NSA, the head of the CIA and the Vice-President. They all were glued to the screens in front of them as the live feeds showed the estate from a predator drone flying high above. The head of the CIA stepped over to the President and handed him a folder. On the cover were the words "BLUE FOX and PINK SLOTH".

"Mr. President, I believe you need to see this."

The President turned to him.

"Can't it wait?"

The CIA head shook his head.

"No Sir. This file has a direct bearing on what is happening at this moment."

The President nodded as he opened the file and began to read. Soon the expression on his face changed and he concentrated even more on what he was reading. He moved to a more upright position as he continued to read. After a few moments he turned to the CIA head.

"Who knows about this?"

The CIA head looked him in the eye.

"Very, very few people sir."

The President went back to reading before he closed the file and sat back rubbing his temple with one hand.

"Dear God!"

The VP turned to his chief.

"Sir?"

* * *

Ron leaned against the side of the building. There was a door just around the corner from where he was standing. Wade had the alarms already disconnected and the cameras inside showed Wade that there were no guards on that hall. Just as Ron took a step a figure stepped from around the corner in front of him. Ron snapped up his mag-gun pulled the trigger. The sound was not much louder than shaver but the effect on the guard was nothing less that gruesome. The weapon was set to fire at 600 per minute so by the time Ron had pulled the trigger good he had already fired 10 or more rounds. The 40 cal. full metal jacket bullets cut the guard in half before he could utter a sound. Ron pulled the body into some bushes before he made his way to the door. He tried the door handle and it opened easily.

Quickly he stepped through the door and closed it behind him. It appeared that he was at the end of a short darkened hall with a couple of doors on each side of the hall. At the end of the hall was a wall showing the intersection of the hall to the next. Wade's voice came over his earpiece.

"Okay. You are in a short hallway with a couple of maintenance rooms to your right and storage rooms to your left. The intersection in front of you leads to more storage room and access to the main part of the mansion. Kim is being held in a room one floor above you on the other end of the home. The weapon is located on the same level as you in the center of the building. You might be really interested in the last room on the right."

Ron tapped the com button on his LBG twice to signify that he had heard Wade and he was ready for the rest of their plan. He stepped down the hall and checked the door that Wade had mentioned. Yellow lines crossed the door and the word "Ammunition, Small Arms" was written in yellow letters. A smile crossed his face as he glanced back to the door he passed. The door was painted red and the yellow lettering said "Oils and Solvents". He made quick work of the lock to the ammo room and entered. He set a number of thermite charges with timers in the room and went to the solvent room to do the same. Before he left either room he used a special can of spray epoxy on the sprinklers in each of the rooms so they would not work. Wade disabled the fire and smoke alarms on that level.

Stepping back into the hall he moved down the hall to the intersection of the two halls. Wade's voice came to him again.

"Alright make a right and move down the hall. At the first left take the left and move down the hall. There are guards in front of the door where the weapon is stored. You will have to take out the guards and get to the weapon."

Ron acknowledged by the double tap again before he glanced around the corner of the hall. There were three guards standing about. They didn't seem to be very concerned about security as their weapons lay against the wall near them. He could hear what they were saying.

"Big Daddy is working her over right now. She won't last long, nobody can take that. I would love to get hold of that one. I helped that other guy bring her in. Talk about a body? This babe had one. I got a couple of real good feels while we brought her in."

Ron gritted his teeth and aimed his weapon. The red laser dot settled on the side of the head of the guard who had just spoken. Pulling the trigger the weapon hummed to life. The man's head exploded in a mass of torn flesh, bone and gristle. The other guards barely had time to scream before he turned the mag-gun on them. Both bodies did a dance as the bullets ripped them apart. All were dead before the bodies hit the floor. Ron scuttled up the hall until he reached the door that they were standing at.

Kneeling in front of the door he pulled the card that Wade had given him. A thin wire was attached to the card and plugged into the computer that Ron wore on his back. With a swipe the card hacked the security codes and opened the door. Ron pushed the heavy door open and looked inside the room. A heavy box sat on a table in front of him. He remembered the same box from years before as the same as the one they had attempted to disarm. He slipped into the room and almost cursed out loud. The box was empty. There was a shout behind him and he spun to see another guard trying to pull his AK-47 from his shoulder yelling into his radio. Ron aimed and fired within a split second shredding the guard before he could fire. An alarm started to sound as Ron ran to the door. He keyed his radio.

"Trouble big time! A guard spotted me. The bomb is not in the room so start looking. Give me a location on Karen."

A map of the house appeared in the monocle screen over Ron's left eye.

"Okay, how do I get there without running into a lot of happy campers?"

A line appeared on the map as Wade started talking.

"Go back down the hall where the ammo is to the second door on your right. It is a utility closet. There is a maintenance tube in the room. The main thing is that all the pipe lines and electrical lines for the mansion run through this tube. It just happens to pass right by the room where she is. Set off your surprise after you are in the tubeway. The fire and explosions will cover you. Seal the tube behind you with a foam bomb so the smoke and fire don't get to you. Don't worry about the explosions. The tube goes through solid concrete and rock."

Ron ran back down the hall where he had just come from. He quickly entered the room where Wade had directed him. He climbed the pipe clustered against the wall and over into the pipe alley. It was a tight fit but he was able to get in. After crawling a few feet he pulled another special gift from Wade. They called it a foam bomb. It's use was to seal a hallway or door behind them to keep someone from following them. It would work perfect now to keep the fire and smoke away from him. He pulled the pin from the grenade and tossed it behind him. Within a few seconds thick foam started to expand in the narrow tube. Just before it sealed completely he pressed the button that would override the timers and detonate the charges he had left behind. The tube shook from the concussion of the explosions. Turning back in front of him, he turned on the infrared light on his head set and pulled the vision goggles down over his eyes. The inside of the tube appeared before his eyes as he started to crawl.

"I'm coming KP. I am coming."

* * *

Well, another chapter of the Fox and the Sloth down. I hope that you enjoyed it. Still a bit of story to come. Hang in there.

This is the Captain  
Roger and out  
Right hand salute.


	7. Chapter 7

Fox and sloth

Chapter 7

* * *

Ron continued to crawl down the pipe tube. The area still shook from the explosions behind him and even in the tube he could smell a slight tingle of smoke. He came to a point where the tube turned upward. He slipped to a standing position and started to use a chimney ascent as he climbed upward. He made his way up two floors when he came to another tube going to his right. He slipped into the tube and slowly made his way down the tube to a certain spot. There was a hatch to his left. He tapped his commbutton.

"Okay Wade. I'm at the door. What now."

Wade's voice came over his headphones.

"Henry, that door opens into a supply closet on the floor where they are holding Karen. It is connected to Brotherson's main room. When you enter the room you will need to take a right. Go through the room and there will be a door. Go through that door and you'll find a hallway. There will be a door directly across from you. That is the room where they are holding Karen. You should be able to slip through his room and avoid some of the guards. I am going to start some false sightings on another floor to draw off the guards. I have also located the bomb."

Ron stopped for a moment. Kim was right across from him. He could be with her in seconds but those with the bomb could get away. He had to make a decision.

"Where is the bomb?"

Wade hesitated for a second not quite sure of Ron's reply. He too wanted to get Kim first but Ron had made the decision for him. But, maybe just maybe he could help out. His fingers flew over the keys for a few seconds when he heard Ron call again.

"Wade, where is the bomb?"

Wade tapped a few more keys.

"Listen Sloth, there are a lot of people around the bomb. You'll need help stopping them. I am not sure what shape Fox is in but you are going to need her help. I have locked down the building with new codes. No one is going anywhere fast. The bomb is actually on the same floor as you. It looks like the guys are trying to reach the same room Fox is in. It might work out to get to Fox then ambush them."

Ron smiled.

"Copy that. Moving out."

Jason waited with his men as they waited in their overlook position. The outside guards had already been spotted and noted. Yakov and his men were covering the other side of the estate and waited also. It was going to be an interesting night. They had been issued some new equipment. Since there would be two separate units with two different types of weapons would be assaulting a common target. In the midst of a firefight a friendly fire kill could be very possible. That was until they were issued the new equipment. Both teams were wearing a certain vest over their kits. All of their weapons had a laser on it that fired a certain wavelength beam. When the weapon was aimed at a target the laser would paint on the target. If the laser hit one of the vests everyone was wearing there was an interlock that would prevent their weapon from firing. If you weren't wearing a vest. Mourners please omit flowers.

But two of the most important members of the strike force would not be wearing those vests so they still would have to be really careful who they shot at. Especially once they got into the estate buildings. They had been given photographs of the two subjects and been rehearsed looking at them from different angles and lighting. It was hoped that the two would not be accidentally shot while doing what they were supposed to be doing.

There was a distinct rumbling from inside the building and smoke started to come from several places of the estate. The lights flickered as more rumbling came from deep within the main building. That was his signal. With a flick of his wrist he signaled his demolition expert who in turn triggered the explosives they had set on the perimeter fence. The heavy fence disappeared in a blast of smoke and dust. A similar explosion on the other side of the estate gave notice that their Russian counterparts were making their move also. Jason and his team moved quickly across the open ground shooting at any guards that appeared. The cackle of gunfire told him that the Russian team was making their move also. In moments, Jason and his team had reached the estate buildings. They had taken down a number of guards on the way in and prepared to enter the estate building. The Russian team would secure the exterior of the building and the small airfield nearby. Hopefully the three pronged attack would be a success. He motioned to his radioman to send the update signal showing that they were preparing to enter the buildings. He also knew that there was a drone flying high overhead updating everyone on what was going on.

Brotherson glanced around the room as several of the guards jumped back from the growing puddle of green ooze. More shouted at each other and into various radios as the sound of more explosions came to his ears. A fine mist of dust fell from the ceiling testament to the power of the explosions. He turned to Habari.

"Sir, it appears that those you have been having trouble with have followed you here. As you have already received your package we have not further business to conduct with each other. I would ask you to leave my home immediately and take your problems somewhere else."

Habari snarled as he pointed to Kim.

"What about her?"

Brotherson sighed.

"What about her? Her colleagues are not doubt responsible for what is happening. I shall deal with her in my own way in my own time. She has caused me no amount of trouble and she will pay for that."

Habari moved toward her.

"She has caused me trouble too and she is responsible for the death of my little brother."

Brotherson's man stepped in front of Habari with his arms crossed. Some of Habari's men reached for their weapons until they realized that they were not only outnumbered but outgunned. They slowly eased their hands away from their weapons as Habari backed away. Brotherson pointed to the door.

"You may leave through that door and take your package with you. I would suggest not to delay as there are limits to my hospitality and my guards. While they are quite capable I have my doubts of them holding off the forces coming into my home for very long."

Brotherson moved down the hall surrounded by his guards. Somehow his home had been invaded again and this time was different. The explosions and the excited chatter of his guards told him that this was a full invasion and not just a small visit. Two heavily armed groups were on the outside and would soon be entering his estate. So far only one person had been seen inside but that one person had already killed several guards and caused massive damage to in interior of his home. He knew that the one agent was here for one of two things. Either the bomb or the girl. At this point he knew where the girl was but his counterparts men had already taken the bomb from its storage place. He assumed that they would take it to their boss who was currently entertaining the girl. The fool didn't realize that his men were actually helping the agent by bringing both in close proximity to the other.

His group stopped at a security door and he typed a code into the pad. To his consternation, the door didn't open. He tried another code and that one didn't work any better. He realized that somehow his computer system had been hacked and the hacker was controlling all the access to the doors and the building. Brotherson pulled a small device from his pocket. He had hoped never to have to use this but he always had backups. The small box had a keypad and a button under a cover. He typed a code into the box and pressed the button.

In the main computer room a small box inside the computer came to life. The light started to blink faster and faster until a red light came on. It sent a signal out and small thermite charges in all the computers went off melting all the hard drives, memory banks and hard boards. The security doors around the estate went dead and popped open. All cameras went dead at the same time.

Wade sat helplessly as he stared at the screens in front of him. Everything he had was gone. Brotherson must have realized that someone had hacked his systems and had them mined. He could not be of much good now except to help where he could. At least he had downloaded all the maps of the property into his system before Brotherson fried his system. He could help Ron that way. He hit is commbutton.

"Sloth, Brotherson fried his own systems. I can't be of much help now. The last position of the bomb I had was just down the hall from you. Fox is in the room directly across from you. I have no idea of the forces around you. Know that the two raiding teams are hitting the estate right now."

Ron acknowledged the information with two taps on his mike.

Kim sat back in her chair and forced herself to hide her smile. If she knew Ron he was responsible for what was going on. Now she just had to bide her time and wait for the opportunity to get free. Habari cursed as he screamed orders at his men. They ran from the room after Brotherson and his men had left. It was just her and Habari now. He slowly stepped over to her and snatched her head back by her hair.

"I am going to enjoy this."

Kim smiled.

"I know I am."

She drove her free knee up between his legs literally lifting him from the floor. He gasped and squeaked at the same time as he slid to his knees. Rufus hopped up from his hiding place under her and pulled at the strap holding her right arm. Habari's eyes uncrossed for a moment and saw Rufus undoing the strap on Kim's arm. Before he could make a move or say anything Kim gave him a kick under the chin that flipped him on his back. Rufus finished with the strap and Kim pulled her arm free. She quickly reached over to release the strap on her left hand while Rufus worked on the strap on her left leg. Earlier, just about the time that the guard shoot the fake Ron and the lights blinked she felt the presence of her smallest friend. He had worked to undo her right leg just before Habari had ordered his men to leave and approached her.

Pulling herself free from the chair she turned and picked up Rufus. She gave him a hug just as she heard a groan. Turning to her left she noticed that Habari had gained his feet and pulled a knife from his boot. He hissed as he stumbled forward.

"You struck me. A woman! A woman's place is on her back accepting what a man chooses to give her. I will show you your error. Then I will take what a I want."

Kim turned to face him as she dropped Rufus to the floor.

"Go find Henry. I'll take care of this piece of trash."

She slipped into a fighting stance.

"Bring it."

Habari snarled as he rushed toward her slashing with the knife.

Ron made his way through Brotherson's main room. He remembered seeing it on the security cameras when they first raided the property. As he made his way through the room he noticed a large silver serving platter filled with candy bars. He smiled as he reached into one of his pockets and pulled out a candy bar that looked just like the ones on the platter. He placed his bar on top of all the others. Patting it gently he made his way across the room and slowly opened the door that lead to the hallway Wade had mentioned. There was a door directly across from him.

Ron glanced at the door that he knew Kim was behind. A quick glance each direction showed no one in the hall. He stepped out to make his way to the door when a group of men came around the corner. They yelled as they started to aim their weapons. Ron spun and pulled the trigger to his weapon. It hummed as it spit out its deadly cargo. The first three men were pushed backward into those behind them. The rest of the men fell the the stream of bullets that struck them in an unending hail of death.

One, pulled the trigger of his AK-47 as he fell. The weapon roared to life and filled the hallway with lead. One round hit hit Ron in the chest and threw him back. Ron gasped in pain but rolled to his feet and ran in the direction that the men had come. As he came to the corner he looked around to see a group of men carrying a large box that appeared to be heavy. Two of the men in the group saw him and fired their weapons as the group retreated up the hall. Ron was about to chase after them when a hand grabbed his shoulder. He dropped and drove the butt of his weapon into the figure's stomach. The figure rode out the blow but it still knocked their breath out. Ron spun to catch a head full of red hair in his hand.

"KP?"

Habari snarled as he rushed toward her slashing with the knife.

Kim stepped to the side and let the knife slip past her. As it passed she grabbed Habari's wrist and elbow pushing down while she brought up her knee. The knee struck his arm between where she had a grip on his arm. There was a wet snap as both of the bones in his lower arm broke. Habari screamed as the knife slipped from his hand. Kim let go of his arm and spun with a hard kick to the side of his head. The blow spun him around and into the far wall. Kim pulled back and waited.

Habari turned from the wall and glared at her. Pure hatred blazing from his eyes. He dove toward the knife and tried to grab it. Kim stomped on his hand pinning it beneath her foot. He kicked out hitting her in the lower back. The blow knocked her forward and into the chair where she had been bound. Habari got up and slashed at her again as she tried to spin away from him. The knife cut a slit across her upper back. She screamed as she kicked out and hit him in the chin. The blow knocked him back. Kim spun again and drove another kick directly into his chest. This blow knocked the knife from his hand and back into the wall where he slid to the floor. Kim winced as she tried to stretch her back. A shot rang out and a bullet struck her in the shoulder.

She watched as Habari glared at her from the floor across the room he got to his feet holding a pistol that had been in a holster hanging from the wall.

"Slut. You will pay for what you have done. When I am finished with you will beg for me to kill you."

Kim sneered at him.

"Not likely."

In a split second Kim dove forward, picked up the knife and threw it toward Habari. He shrieked and dropped the pistol as his hand tried to gather what was left of his manhood. Gurgling he went to his knees. Kim walked across the room and picked up the pistol that was lying in front of him. He looked up to see her aiming the pistol between his eyes.

"You know. All of your type seems to be the same. You want to gloat instead of finishing the game. So finish this."

She fired the pistol into his face at point blank range. His head snapped back and he slumped to the floor. Staring at the pistol she noticed that the slide was locked back showed the clip empty. Tossing the useless weapon to the floor she headed out the door. There was shooting outside the room and she opened the door slightly to see a figure up the hall. There was no doubt in her mind who that figure was. It was Ron. He turned and fired around the corner he was hiding behind. She ran up and touched his arm. Before she could react, he turned and drove the butt of his weapon into her stomach. Only her unnatural reflexes prevented her from catching the complete blow. As it was it still knocked some of her breath out. A hand grabbed her hand and a sweet voice she loved to her came to her ears.

"KP?"

* * *

Brotherson and his men moved up a darkened stairway that gave them direct access with his personal rooms. He pushed a door open and walked into his office. He pointed out where he wanted his men to go and they silently moved into position. He walked across the room and pulled back a picture revealing a safe door. He pressed his hand against the pad on the door and the safe hissed as it slid open. Reaching into the safe he pulled out stacks of currency from several nations as well as a number of passports all with his picture and several different names. He motioned for his man to put the money in a bag.

"My friend. I believe it is time for me to leave. However, I think there will be those that will attempt to prevent me from doing so. Will you please take the proper actions to allow to do so."

The large man nodded. Brotherson smiled and gave a slight bow.

"You have been a good friend and a fine employee. It is my hope and desire that you have the opportunity to escape yourself. Before we part would you please go into the main room and gather my supply of those fine nougat bars. I'd rather have them with my for the trip."

The large man nodded and turned to enter the main room. He walked over to the silver tray and picked up few of the bars from the top of the stack and placed them in another bag he had with him. As he passed the door that lead to the hallway where the girl was being held he heard gunfire and shouting. He walked quickly to the room where Brotherson waited. Handing Brotherson the bag of candy he walked over to the wall and pulled an AK-47 from the rack and pulled the charging handle. With a bow to his employer he walked back into the main room.

Brotherson watched as his man walked back into the main room to give him some time to escape. He turned to the other men with him. He noticed that one of was the computer guru who identified the girl for him. Brotherson motioned him over.

"Sir, I wish you to try and escape in a different manner. I need you to survive to serve me at a later date. I would suggest you wait here for those who are invading my home. I have no doubt they will wish to speak with you. Give them answers to the best of your ability there is no need to lie or try not to answer. You have been a good and true employee and I have made arrangements for payment to your accounts. I hope the future will treat you well."

The computer tech nodded and turned to sit in a chair nearby holding his case with all his data in it. Brotherson nodded to the other men with him.

"Let us depart before those invading my home reach the point of preventing me from leaving."

Brotherson followed the men as they led the way out of the room by another door. The computer tech waited while the sound of gunfire and yelling came from the direction that Brotherson's right hand man had gone. He could clearly hear the sound of the girl screaming.

* * *

"KP?"

Ron turned and let his weapon slide to his side on its harness. Kim went down on one knee as she reached out to grab his arm. After a couple of deep breaths she was able to gasp out.

"I thought I was on your SIDE!"

She quickly found herself the recipient of a hug that nearly crushed her ribs. She saw stars from the pain of her abused ribs. Taking her arms she peeled Ron's arms from around her and pushed him back.

"It's good to see you too but I like breathing too. And the ribs are sorta tender right now."

Ron knelt in front of her. One of her eyes was blackened and partially closed. Her lip was split and bleeding as well as her shoulder but he had never seen her looking as good as she did right.

"Sorry KP. I am just so glad to see you. I was so worried. Are you okay?"

Kim nodded as she reached out to grab his battle harness. His face had been blacked by camo covering but those brown eyes shone like two searchlights. She could see the concern and relief at the same time in those eyes. That was when she noticed a small dripping of blood from under his battle harness.

"Henry you are hurt!"

Ron shrugged.

"I took a pretty good hit. This body armor is good but it wasn't quite ready for a AK round at point blank range."

Kim started to reach over to check him when the door behind opened and the tall man that was always with Brotherson stepped into the hallway. He held an AK-47 in his hands. When he saw both of them his face contorted into a mask of hate and rage. Raising his weapon he screamed. Ron shoved Kim to the side as he raised his own weapon. Both of them fired at the same time. The roar of the AK thundered in the confined space of the hallway. The large man danced as the rounds from Ron's weapon poured into him. The high power AK rounds ricocheted down the hall. Silence reigned when the AK fell from the lifeless hands of the large man as he slid to the floor.

Ron took a slow breath as he watched the man slid to the floor. When the body came to rest on the floor he looked around to find Kim. He found her on the floor on the other side of the hall grimacing in pain. Blood was seeping from her hand covering her left leg.

"KP!"

He leaped across the hall to check on her. She moaned in pain as he checked her out.

"It's okay Henry. I think it went right through. We were so close to him it didn't even slow down. It hurts like hell but I'll be okay. We got to find the bomb and stop it from leaving the site. What kind of backup do we have?"

In seeming answer to her questions there were some explosions and gunfire in separate directions. Kim looked at Ron as he smiled.

"How about a full complement of Green Beret and Spetsnaz? We've got help like you wouldn't believe."

Kim studied Ron closely.

"Uh, Ron, wouldn't they be the last people we would want to team up with. If we are id'ed there would be hell to pay and we would have to pay it."

Ron looked seriously at her.

"I was told that that problem had been taken care of. We just need to finish this mission. After that Covington said he needed to talk to us. But right now let's get that bomb. Here let me take care of that."

Ron pulled a bandage from his pack and wrapped it around her leg. She moaned in pain and her face turned slightly white. Ron looked up at her with concern.

"You able to go on?"

Kim spoke through gritted teeth.

"Just try and stop me."

Ron passed her his weapon and pulled a extra harness from his pack and put it on as he gave his pack to her. She pulled an extra comm-unit out and put it on.

"Here you take this. It is set for both of us. I'll use his."

Ron cocked his thumb toward the AK on the floor next to Brotherson's man. Kim placed his pack on her back and watched as he put on the extra battle harness. He explained it's special use.

"It has a special feature on it, sort of like a plane's IFF. If one of the good guys happens to sight in on one of us a signal will show in their sights showing that we are good guys. This is sort of a free fire zone. Anything that moves is going to get shot."

Kim nodded.

"Let's go."

Rufus popped up on Ron's lap chattering and pointing down the hall.

Ron looked over to Kim.

"He says that the guys carrying the bomb are going down the stairs at the end of the hall. They seem to be heading for the water. I've got a shortcut."

Ron tapped his commlink.

"You there Wade ?"

Wade answered quickly.

"Got you Sloth. Do you have Fox?"

Ron nodded.

"A little worse for wear but I got her."

Wade gave an audible sigh as Kim answered for herself.

"It's good to hear you Wade. We need to get to the lower levels quickly. You got a way for us?"

Wade answered.

"Good to hear your voice Fox. Follow Sloth. Sloth, use the same way you used to get up there. You should be able to get to the lower levels before anyone going down the stairs."

Ron waved for Kim to follow him as he made his way back to the room where he had climbed up the pipe tube. He motioned for Kim to turn around and he pulled a rope from the pack and tied it off at the top. Taking the rope he attached it to a carabiner that he pulled from a space on his belt. He rappelled down the pipe and detached the rope. Kim took the rope and twisted it around her body. She slid down the tube and joined Ron at the bottom. Ron called Wade.

"Okay Wade. We are at the bottom of the tube. Now I know I toasted the level I was on. Where do we go now?"

Wade responded.

"Okay. You'll need to crawl down the tube that continues the direction you came from. About 60 feet down the tube there is a maintenance hatch. Go through the hatch and you'll be down the hall from the stairway where they should be coming out if they are trying to get to the ocean. For your info the teams have taken control of the estate but are still fighting for control of airstrip."

Kim responded.

"We got you Wade and we are moving out. Ron move "

* * *

Jason and his team worked their way out of the estate buildings and out toward the airfield. What they found out the hard way was that the owner of the estate apparently had planned for such and instance and that the area around the airfield was honeycombed with outfacing bunkers designed to keep people from reaching the airfield. He already had two wounded and the rest were pinned down. He keyed his radio.

"Archangel, Archangel this is Renegade one. We are pinned down by heavy weapons fire from several bunkers. We don't have the weapons to take them out. I have two WIA at this point that evac asap. Any chance of getting some fire support? Over."

His radio crackled back.

"Negative Renegade. Negative on the fire support. Archangel says to keep the pressure on but let plane leave. Repeat, let the plane leave. Bomb is confirmed not be be onboard but still on estate. Bomb is priority. Keeping the pressure on the airfield is tying up assets that could be used to assist in removing bomb from area. Keep the pressure on. Evac is on the way. Over."

Jason slid further down into his hole. Keep the pressure on and let the plane leave? He thought. Orders are orders. He keyed the mike to his men.

"Maintain fire and keep their heads down. Do not advance. Allow aircraft to leave, repeat let the aircraft leave. They have other plans for it I guess."

Just as he spoke a Learjet rolled from a hidden hanger and roared down the runway. JATO packets ignited hurling the craft down the runway and into the air. They watched as the plane disappeared into the distance.

* * *

Yakov and his men had cleaned out the upper halls of the estate and were working they way down into the heart of the estate. His men had suffered some casualties having one KIA and two WIA. However they appeared to have control of most of the estate and were working their way down the halls. Resistance appeared to have slackened now that they were moving down the hallways of the living quarters themselves. There were only the sporadic shootings where a gunman would remain hidden until his men had passed and then coming out of hiding and opening fire. They now cleared each room before proceeding.

The hallway they were in now had seen some action before they had arrived. There were several dead gunman and these gunman were different from most of the one they had been fighting. They were definitely from the group attempting the purchase the bomb. If they were seeing these gunmen now then the bomb had to be close. The other unknown team had to be close also.

The wounds on the dead gunman belied some new type of weapon. The bodies were literally shredded being hit by several hi caliber bullets. What ever weapon the other team was using it had a very high rate for fire. Yakov and his point man reached a corner in the hallway having already passed several bodies. At the corner he recognized the body of Brotherson's main man lying on the floor. He had been subjected to the same weapon as the other but for an expended amount of time and at point blank range. Most interesting was the lack of spent shells from the new weapon. There were many spend AK-47 rounds on the floor but no weapon remained. There was also spots of blood separate from the pool of blood from the dead man. The other team must have been wounded. The missing AK meant that they had also armed themselves with the extra weapon.

One of Yakov's men entered the door behind the dead man. He reported finding a computer technician who surrendered as soon as the soldier appeared. The prisoner reported that Brotherson had left earlier that the he the tech had all the information that the authorities might be interested in. Yakov ordered two of his men to escort the man outside and transport him to the ships offshore for interrogation. Yakov turned to the door on his right and signaled the point man to enter. They found what appeared to be a torture/interrogation room. There were two chairs with straps to bind someone to the chair. The first chair was empty while the other appeared to be covered in what appeared to be some type of shell of a man with green goo spread out all over the place. What was most interesting was the body of a man that they had a real interest in. It was the terrorist Habari. He had been subjected to a nasty beating before someone had shot him between the eyes. When Yakov rolled the body over it unrolled.

"Damn!" he muttered in Russian when Habari's hand slid from covering the disaster between his legs.

Yakov shook his head. This unknown team that he was cooperating with did not pull any punched. It was clear that they killed without hesitation and could be quite nasty in a fight. Yakov made a mental note not to get on the bad side of this team. He had already been briefed on what had happened to the American team when they had a run in with the other team. His men had laughed at the expense of the stupid Americans until the man giving them the briefing explained just what the other team was capable of. His advice. Remain on the good side of this team or stay out of their way.

The sound of heavy gunfire below him caught his attention. He left the body of the terrorist and lead his team to the nearest stairs and started their way down.

* * *

Kim grunted slightly as she had to put weight on her injured leg to look around the corner of the hallway. She and Ron had made their way out of the supply room where the pipe tube lead them. Now they were just down the hall from the door that the stairway being used by the terrorist with the bomb were using. They could already hear the yelling of the men trying to carry the heavy case containing the bomb. Everyone in awhile they would hear a metal on metal bang that could only be the group setting the metal case containing the bomb down. It had to be heavy.

She turned back and signaled silently to Ron to get ready. He nodded that he understood. Kim took a good look at the two of themselves. They were a mess. She had a black eye and swollen lip to go with several bruises. Add the two bullet holes in her shoulder and her leg and she must have been a sight. Ron for his part was bruised and cut up himself. Blood still seeped from under this body armor even after she had insisted on putting a bandage on the spot. She tried not to think about. This was what they were trained for and now was the time.

The door in the hall banged open and two armed men stepped out into the hallway looking in all both directions. Assuming thing were clear they called back into the open door. Four more men appeared carrying a large metal case. They clearly were struggling after having carried the case around for quite awhile and down several flights of stairs. Kim watched the scene though a small dentist's mirror that she and Ron had always carried with them. They were easy to use and were difficult to spot. They also had Rufus who had joined them in the hallway. He was hiding behind a box across from them. He was to give the signal for them to attack waiting for all the guards to be looking the other way.

The men and their guard shuffled down the hallway for several feet when a couple of those carrying the case muttered a few words. The group set the case on the floor and three stepped away from the case while taking the weapons from those carrying the guns. Rufus signaled. This was the perfect time while the group was distracted changing places. Kim leaned around the corner while Ron dove to the floor and rolled to the opposite side of the hall. Kim's weapon hummed is destructive voice while the AK Ron was carrying roared to life.

The men at the end of the hall didn't have a chance. The hail of bullets cut them to pieces within seconds. However in those seconds two of them had a chance to fire their weapons. The 7.62 rounds cut up the wall behind Kim and Ron. Kim ducked back slightly as one round cut a furrow in her arm. Ron grunted as another hit him in the shoulder. His body armor absorbed most of the blow but the pure force of the hit snapped his clavicle. One of the terrorist had dropped behind the case when the shooting started. He watched as his comrades were turned into chopped meat from the gunfire. Reaching down to his belt he pulled the first of two grenades that he had on his belt. Pulling the pin from the first he hurled it up the hallway.

Even after the intense fusillade of gunfire left her ears ringing. The "ping" of the arming lever told her more of anything that she would want to know at that second. She screamed.

"GRENADE!"

The small oval sphere bounced down the hall toward them. There was nowhere to go. From his hiding spot Rufus jumped out and grabbed the grenade and shoved it in the air vent he had vacated earlier. It detonated just inside the vent tearing a hole in the concrete wall. Shrapnel pinged off the walls and smoke filled the hallway. The man hiding behind the case glanced over the case and pulled the pin to his second grenade. Just as he glanced over to throw it Kim shot him in the face. The grenade fell on top of the case and rolled off into his lap. It detonated with a resounding blow that signaled his trip into the arms of Allah.

Kim and Ron waited for a second before moving forward. Rufus appeared out of the dust filled hallway and climbed up Ron's suit to perch on his uninjured shoulder. They both slowly limped up the hallway toward the case sitting in the hallway. When they reached the case they could see that the grenade blast had damaged it. Kim handed her weapon to Ron and started opening the case while he stood guard.

* * *

Brotherson sat back in his seat aboard his plane. After the rather rapid takeoff he relaxed as the aircrew flew that plane out over the Black Sea. Flying low they avoided most of the radar and he suspected that once they were in the air the forces attacking his home would leave him alone. They after all would most likely be more concerned over the bomb than anything else. Just in case, he would give them something more to be concerned about. Taking a remote control from his case he pressed a code into the keyboard. He smiled as he sat back. That signal would arm the bomb and set the timer for 10 minutes. Plenty of time for him to make his getaway. Sighing in triumph he sat back and look at the open briefcase full of money across from him. Taking a candy bar from the bag his man had given him he ripped the wrapping off the end and took a bite. He nearly gagged at the foul taste that filled his mouth. Something was in the candy and something was wrong with the candy bar. He pulled it from his mouth to look at it. His eye grew the size of saucers when he looked at the candy bar. The piece he had bitten hung by a piece of wire. He recognized the filling of the candy bar as C4 explosive. The metal he had bitten into was a detonator. His world disappeared in a blinding flash.

* * *

The President went back to reading before he closed the file and sat back rubbing his temple with one hand.

"Dear God."

The VP turned to his chief.

"Sir?"

The President glanced through his fingers at his friend. Glancing over to his CIA head he cleared his throat.

"Clear the room except for the VP, CIA head, Sec. Of State, Chief of Staff and Chairman of Joint Chiefs."

Several of the other glanced at their President only to receive a look that told them that he was more than serious. The other staff quickly left the room and closed the door. The President tossed the file to the Vice-President. He quickly opened it up and started to glance through it. His face went from curious to shock and total surprise.

"Sir? How...?"

The President turned to his CIA head.

"Who else in the room knows?"

The CIA head nodded to the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs.

"Only he knows. We discovered the information together on the operation mentioned in that file."

The Vice-President tossed the file to the Secretary of State and the Chief of Staff. They opened the file together and read quickly. The same shock shown by the others was displayed on their faces. The Chief of Staff closed the file and set it on the table.

The Chief of Staff stood and pointed at it as he spoke to the CIA head.

"You're telling me that the same two kids that nearly got us into a war with Russia are now on a mission that could start a world WAR?"

Before the CIA head could answer the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs spoke up.

"Stuff that attitude Brian. I don't know why you are still carrying a chip on your shoulder for those two. They did a lot of good in their day and they are now better than anything we have put together."

Before Brian could answer the President spoke up.

"Brian listen up and this is a direct order. I want you and the others in this room to write up a full pardon in their names. Do you know that the Mrs. Dr. Possible is one of my closest health advisers and MR. Dr. Possible is one of my closest science and space advisers?"

The staff was silent as the President paused for a moment.

"Those two have done more to save this nation and this world than anyone else. They were crucified and condemned for being human and making a mistake. Doing a job that WE should have been doing. If they want, they will be welcomed back in this nation as the heroes that they are. If they want to stay as they are, then I am going to do everything in my power to protect them."

The CIA head pointed to the file.

"How about her parents? You say you are close to both of them. Are you going to tell them?"

The President paused for a moment.

"That I will leave up to them. If need be I will increase her parents security ratings so that they can be told secretly."

The CIA head bowed his head.

"There is another way also sir."

The President glared at the CIA head.

"No, that is not to be considered. They don't deserve that. Besides we may not have to worry about that."

The President pointed back at the screen and the group continued to watch the ongoing updates of the battle on the screen.

* * *

Covington watched the updates carefully for any information on his team. Wade had been keeping him updated with what little he could find out by talking to Fox or Sloth. He knew both of them were already injured. But most importantly they were heading off the group carrying the bomb away. The last report he had was that they had arrived in the hallway and were waiting for the group to appear. He had listened in on the radio and heard the gunfight and the grenade explosion. Then nothing. Wade had tried to contact Sloth but there was no reply. Wade thought that Sloth's radio had been damaged in the blast. So they didn't know what was happening.

"Sir?"

Covington turned to face one of the officers in the room with him.

"Yes Mr. Blakely, what is it?"

The officer pointed to a radar screen on another monitor.

"Sir, we have an aircraft leaving the scene of the firefight. Should we intercept?"

Covington knew that the only aircraft on the estate was Brotherson's and if it had taken off there was more than a fair chance he was abroad. This situation had already been discussed. Brotherson was not the target just yet. He could be found again. The bomb and the men wanting it were the ones that they wanted. He watched as the radar blip moved across the screen. Suddenly the blip disappeared. The officer hit several keys on his keyboard to see if he could get a signal back. Then he touched his hand to his headset. He turned and faced Covington.

"Sir, lookouts report a mid-air explosion just as the blip disappeared off our radar. Should be investigate further?"

Covington smiled.

"No Mr. Blakely. I think Mr. Brotherson just got a special message for Fox and Sloth."

* * *

Ron's eyes scanned the hallway in both directions as Kim opened the case. As the lid flipped open a muted curse came from her mouth. Ron looked down and didn't like what he saw. The grenade blast had dented the case and the concussion had done some damage to the bomb. Kim called Wade on her radio.

"Wade. Do you hear me?"

Wade answered quickly.

"I hear you Fox. What is wrong?"

Kim looked down at the bomb at the same moment several lights came on and a timer started up.

Kim took a breath.

"Wade the bomb has been armed. The timer is set on 10 minutes and is running. What do I do?"

Wade typed on his keyboard.

"Fox, either the grenade blast armed it or someone armed it by some signal. You will have to disarm it."

Kim took a deep breath.

"I hear you Wade, talk me through it. Do you have the schematics on this kind of bomb?"

Wade glanced at his screen which he had already called up.

"I got it. Unless they have made changes I should be able to talk you through it."

Kim looked closely at the bomb and remembered years ago.

"Wade this looks nothing like what I remember before. They have made a lot of modifications."

Wade's voice came back.

"I can't help you then. Should I make a call?"

Kim shook her head as she spoke.

"There is no time. I really don't know how big this one is but no one here would be able to get clear in time. But I am called a Code Black."

Wade began to worry. A code black meant that she was pretty sure that the bomb was going to detonate and that the two of them would do what they could to mitigate the blast. All personnel that could get clear were to take cover. Wade swallowed before he answered.

"Understood. Code Black."

* * *

Covington started to really sweat. Fox had called a code black. This was the worst situation that could be realized. The bomb was armed and active and detonation was eminent. He could hear the klaxon on the ship sounding "General Quarters". The ship healed over as they tried to get further away from the blast zone. All personnel were ordered inside and the ship was locked down. Covington's lips moved in a silent prayer for the two agents. It was all up to them.

* * *

The President gripped the arms of his chair when the notice of "Code Black" appeared on the screen. The whole room went quiet as everyone watched the screens. The President silently whispered to himself.

"Come on you two work your magic again."

* * *

Kim looked down at the bomb. For some reason she remembered the training in bomb disarming when she made a mistake and got covered in red paint. If she made a mistake this time she, Ron and whole bunch of other people would simply cease to exist. She wiped her hand on her pants and took a glance at Ron. He smiled.

"You can do it KP."

She confidence swelled under his watchful eye. Looking down at the bomb again her eyes started to trace all over the circuitry and wires running to and from the detonator for the bomb. Her eyes quickly noted a couple of false circuits that if she bothered it would detonate. She ignored the timer. It didn't matter. If she stopped it in time then all would be well. If not then she wouldn't know that she messed up.

A single circuit caught her eye. It looked very plain but it told her volumes. That was where she needed to start. Ron handed her a small toolkit and she took a small pair of snips from it. Reaching down she cut a couple of wires and pulled them aside. So far so good. Taking a screwdriver from its case she quickly removed the a small circuit board that was hidden under the wire. Turning the circuit board over and careful not to pull on the wires coming from it she looked for the circuit that she knew she needed. Finding it, she took the snips back out and cut the wire coming from the board headed for the bomb.

Slowly but surely she worked her way through the maze of wires and circuit boards to the last wire. Snipping the wire the bomb shut down. She gave a sigh of relief and looked around. Ron was standing guard over her. He gave her a wink and turned back to watching the halls. Kim cleared her throat and spoke into her mike.

"All clear. Weapon deactivated. Safeties back online."

Wade gave a sigh of relief.

"Affirmative Fox. Bomb is safe. You'll have some help there very quickly."

Kim stood up and stretched. Ron turned to speak to her as she glanced up the hall she noticed one of the guards she had thought was dead was rolling over and pointing his pistol at them.

"LOOKOUT" she screamed as the guard fired. All went black.

* * *

Well, another chapter down and the story continues. I hope you like this latest installment. Please leave a review. I would appreciate it.

thes left. He tapped his commbutton.

ay


	8. Chapter 8

The Fox and the Sloth

Chapter 8

* * *

Yakov ran ahead of his men as they reached the hallway where they knew the other two agents had not only captured the bomb but deactivated it. Just as he turned the corner of the hall to see one of the terrorist lying on the floor take a shot at someone down the hall. He hurt a female voice call out in english. Since one of the other agents was a female he very quickly assumed she was one of the two down the hall. He turned his sub machine gun on the terrorist and fired. His bullet tore the man's torso and he dropped to the floor. He continued running up the hall yelling for his men to check and make sure the rest of the terrorist were dead. In front of him he saw a man he recognized from the pictures from his briefing. He was the male portion of the team they were seeking. The man was bending over a young woman lying on the floor. She had be shot in the shoulder and the leg before being hit in the head by the last terrorists shot.

The other agent was cradling her head in one of his hands as he groped for a medical bandage. Yakov fell to his knees and took the young lady's head in his hands. The other man took a look at him and nodded.

"I see the cavalry was a little late this time but it is good to see you. I am Henry."

Yakov glanced down to see the the bullet had hit the young lady's head at an angle. It didn't appear that the bullet had actually penetrated her skull but he really could not tell because of all the blood. He looked up at the other agent.

"She is badly injured. We have a medic but she needs more care than I believe that he can give."

Ron nodded and spoke into his mike.

"Wade. We have a problem one of the goons was not permanently down and he got a shot off. Karen is down and down hard. One of my new friends here says he has a medic but Karen needs more care than that."

Wade came back over the radio.

"Medivac is on the way. Get her to the landing strip. Your new friend is Yakov. He and his men will help you and take over the bomb. Another team will meet you on the surface and help get Karen to the medivac."

Ron stood up as more men appeared with one carrying a stretcher that he apparently gotten from somewhere. The men got Kim onto the stretcher and began to carry her off. He tried to follow but his legs would not allow him.

Yakov watched as his men took care of the young lady and placed her on the stretcher. Just as they started to move off with her the man collapsed. The medic quickly looked him over and glanced up at his commanding officer.

"Sir, he is wounded and has lost a great deal of blood. He also needed immediate care. I have plasma with me but he needs blood as quickly as possible."

Yakov nodded and spoke into his radio.

"Both agents are down. We will secure the bomb and bring them out. We will need the medivac there when we get there. Have surgical teams ready when they arrive."

* * *

Jason heard the radio report and turned to signal his men.

"Finish taking the field, we need room for a medivac asap!"

The fight for the field was quickly over. There were few of Brotherson's men left and the few that were left didn't see in the need in dying over someone who had left them behind. All of the them dropped their weapons and raised their hands on the approach of the American Special Forces. Jason pointed to two of his men.

"Put them on ice in that hangar over there. Get this area cleared and ready for the dust-off."

He turned to his radio.

"All Stations, airfield is clear repeat, airfield is clear to receive medivac."

His radio crackled for a moment then a voice came back from the ship.

"Roger, airfield is clear, medivac in route."

Yakov's voice came on quickly.

"We are approaching the field. Hold your fire."

Jason snapped his head around in the direction of the estate buildings. He could see a number of men struggling to carry two stretchers toward the field. He motioned of most of his men to continue to cover the field while he and few other ran to assist the Russian soldiers. Jason helped to grab the stretcher that Yakov was helping to carry. Looking down he could barely recognize the girl who had taken he and his team down earlier. She didn't look good. He glanced over to Yakov.

"Medivac inbound."

Yakov nodded.

"They need it badly. How are you and your men?"

Jason turned to see two helicopters flaring in to land just ahead of them.

"I got one KIA and a few wounded, but they can wait till these two get some help."

Yakov nodded.

"Da, same here. I hope to be able to meet these two under better circumstances at a later date."

Jason agreed.

"What say our two little groups give these two a party to remember."

Yakov grunted as they reached the helicopters.

"It would an honor and a pleasure."

Two medical teams grabbed the stretchers carrying Ron and Kim and pulled them into the helicopters. The doors slammed shut and the engines roared as they tore into the sky and headed back for the ships.

Yakov waved and muttered. "Dasvidania, oohdachee"

He turned and patted Jason on the shoulder.

"Come my friend, we have much work to do."

The two men turned and called their men in as more helicopters landed to disgorge more troops. The extra troops quickly fanned out over the area.

* * *

Monique and Bonnie stood by Tara's bed looking at the small blond haired bundle nestled in her arms. Josh sat tiredly in a nearby chair wearing a set of wrinkled scrubs while Bonnie cooed at the little bundle.

"He is soooo precious."

Tara sighed happily.

"He looks like his daddy for sure."

The TV show switched off to reveal one of the more popular news anchors.

"We are interrupting our normal programming to bring you a special bulletin. There are reports out of Turkey of a major confrontation between a group of terrorists and a combined force of U.S. and the Russian Special Forces. Early reports have mentioned the possibility that an atomic device is involved. We had a news team on special assignment in Trabzon, Turkey and they were in the area taking some local footage when the attack on a local estate occurred right in front of them. We are just now receiving some live video from the area. We go now to David Bryant just outside of Rixe, Turkey. Can you hear me David?"

The screen changed to show a very harried looking reporter with his back against a mangled fence.

"I can hear you Edward. We were just outside of Rixe on the coast filming some of the landscape when we started hearing gunfire and explosions. We followed the noise to a large estate where it is rumored that a man well known in weapons trafficking was rumored to live. When we arrived we noticed smoke coming from what was apparently the main residence. We noticed two different groups of men attacking the home and a nearby private airfield. Before we could get a camera into position a member of the U.S. Special Forces approached us and blocked us from filming. He was concerned about our safety as well as the safety of the forces making the attack on the home. It was at that moment we saw a small private jet take off and disappear over the Black Sea. It was very soon after that that the fighting came to a stop. It was at that point we were able to start filming and we now have that."

The screen split and a scene of a large Mediterranean style home was shown. There were a number of fires and columns of smoke coming from several windows. Soldiers could be seen running back and forth outside of the home as a helicopter came flying in and landed. Two groups of soldiers came running out of one of the buildings carrying two stretchers. The camera zoomed in on the two stretchers as they were loaded onto the helicopter which took off and flew back out over the sea.

The reporter came back on the screen.

"It was only later that we learned that the owner had been suspected in arms trafficking and was apparently planning to sell an atomic device to an Islamic militant group. The two special forces groups assaulted the home in order to stop the sale. The helicopter that we saw was taking two of the wounded in the group to medical care. The plane that we saw earlier taking off apparently belonged to the owner of the estate. There are now rumors that the plane crashed soon after takeoff. We will continue to work on this story and bring you updates and soon as we can."

The anchor came back on the screen but Josh already had the tv control and switched the channel.

"Let's have little peace. I don't need to know how crazy the world is getting. I have something special to celebrate."

He turned to see tears coming down from Tara's face. He quickly stepped over to her.

"Tara, honey, what's wrong?"

She sniffed slightly.

"I was just thinking of Kim and Ron. That would have been them stopping it. May be it was them!"

Josh gently took her hand.

"Honey, we talked about this."

He turned to Monique and Bonnie.

"We were at a show in Paris several months ago. There were two people there that Tara swore were Kim and Ron."

Tara turned her head to look at him.

"Josh, I know who I saw. I didn't tell you but I set up a camera to monitor you exhibit. I checked the tape when we got home. I saved a screen grab from the video. Get my pad from your bag and look under my pictures. Check the folder under "curious" and the file parisshow3."

Josh rolled his eyes but knew when his wife used that tone he best do as she asked. He pulled her pad from his bag and started it up. Within moments he had the picture on the screen. He stared for several seconds then started to rub his forehead. Bonnie and Monique noticed his expression and walked over to look over his shoulder. Bonnie's eyes went saucer wide and Monique let out a little screech. There in the picture were two people that were dead ringers for Kim and Ron. Josh looked at Tara.

"Honey?"

Tara smiled.

"See what I mean? Now tell me that those two are not Kim and Ron. If they aren't then they are the most realistic copies I have even seen. Bonnie, Monique, you two knew almost as long as we did. What do you say?"

Bonnie stared at the picture on the screen.

"Wow, just...just..wow. Kim is like...and RON! Hot city! If it isn't Ron let me find his address, hubba bubba."

Monique elbowed Bonnie.

"Stop drooling over the picture! I don't know Tara. I don't think it could be them. I mean I talked to Wade. He helped identify them. He confirmed to me that they were dead."

All of them nodded as Monique continued.

"Nobody else here would want or hope that they were alive more than me. Those two were my best friends. But, I made myself realize that they were gone."

Tara nodded.

"Yeah, I guess you are right. But it is a little fun thinking that they made be alive. But just as a thought, I saw something in the video that maybe you didn't. Since when did members of the Special Forces or the Russians have members of their group with long red hair? One of those people they put on the helicopter had long red hair."

* * *

Covington moved quickly to the ship infirmary. The helicopter that picked up Fox and Sloth was given clearance to fly straight in to land. The doctors had already spoken to the medics on both teams and the medics on the helicopter. They knew what they would be facing and were ready. Shouts were heard up the gangway and he turned to see two teams of corpsman carrying the two stretchers toward the doors. He stood there and got a close look at both of them as they passed by. Kim was pale under a cover of blood. Ron was even paler his chest wrapped in blood soaked bandages. The doctor at the door nodded to him as he shut the door.

"I'll keep you informed, but I think we need to get them to better care than they can receive on this ship. Get us somewhere we can transfer them to a full hospital."

Covington nodded and turned up the gangway. He had not gone far when he walked into the command center. He turned to the captain.

"Get us out of here, flank speed."

The Captain nodded and began to shout orders. The stern of the ship seemed to settle as the engines went to full power. It turned and headed out away from the other ships.

* * *

Ann Possible walked along one of the streets of Birmingham, England. She and James were taking a break from the symposium she had been asked to speak at. It had only been a short while since they had been on a vacation in England but that time most of their time was spent in and around London. Tim and Jim were in school back in Colorado. They had used their intellect and love of their sister to drive themselves forward. They had finished high school easily and now were making their own way in the world. She and James had also made new steps in their own lives. Before they had not been interested in any political or government appointments but when the Governor of Colorado had forwarded their names to the President of the United States to serve on a couple of panels they knew that this was one way to keep Kim's memory and mission alive.

They had enjoyed the past few days. While the symposium had been an honor and enjoyable, they were also enjoying visiting the British countryside. She had taken the chance to visit a couple of the hospitals, but now they were heading for a delightful dinner at a local restaurant. They were just about to the restaurant when two men in dark suits approached them. They pulled id's from the suit jackets and showed them to them. The first turned to Anne.

"Doctor Possible, there is an emergency at the military facility at Queen Elizabeth Hospital Birmingham. They are in need of your skills."

Anne hesitated for a moment before looking at James.

The second man spoke up.

"The other Dr. Possible is also requested."

They looked at each other uncertain to what was going on. A black sedan pulled up to the curb escorted by two police cars. The first man gestured to the door as the second opened it.

"Please Dr. Possible. This is very important."

James took Ann by the arm and pushed her toward the car.

"Let's go dear. They seem to be rather insistent."

They climbed into the rear seat. No sooner had the rear door closed the car pulled into traffic with two more police cars pulling in to escort. The car accelerated quickly as they settled into their seats. A man in the front seat turned around to hand Anne a file.

"Doctor Possible. The President of the United States has been asked by the Prime Minister of England if you would volunteer your services. A pair of Special Agents of the British Isles had been seriously injured in an operation. One has been treated for numerous bullet wounds but the second has a serious head wound. The staff of the hospital was aware you were in the area and has asked for your assistance. As with some of your work you are asked not to speak of this incident. The President has asked to me to say "So not the drama".

The code words the man spoke to them shocked both of them. While they were on different advisory boards for the President they had both been asked to work on a special team in case of national emergency. The code words the man had just spoken were his notification to them that what they were getting ready to face was very important and most likely critical. James took Anne by the hand and nodded. They would face this together.

Anne opened the file and found is a was like a medical file except that a great deal of information had been redacted. Even the picture of the person had be covered over. She settled down to read. The first subject was a male 5'11" and 81 kilos. He was 22 years old. His wounds were two bullet wounds to the chest, one to one arm and another to a leg. He had lost a lot of blood and had a collapsed lung. The medical team had stopped most of the blood lost and had reinflated the lung. He was still in bad shape but with a little extra care he would be okay. The second was a young woman also 22 years old. She was 5'5' and 55 kilos. She had a number of bullet wounds but the most serious was a bullet wound to the head. The medical team was unsure if the bullet had entered the brain but there was a lot of intercranial pressure.

The car they were in pulled into the hospital emergency unit where a number of security personnel waited for them. The car was barely stopped when they yanked the doors open. Anne and James were surprised when armed troops surrounded them as they started to run into the hospital. A team of medial personnel motioned for Anne to follow them while James as escorted to a room down the hall. He expected this and it had happened before. There were a few other people in the room. Dr. Director and three other men were that. One of the them looked especially haggard. Dr. Director stepped over to him.

"Dr. Possible, welcome. We hate to be the ones to disturb your vacation but some events have occurred that warrant your wife's skills."

She turned to introduce the three men who had stood up and were standing nearby.

"Let introduce my collegues. This first gentleman is Mr. Basil Covinton. This gentleman is Alton Brannigan and this gentleman is Ivan Krashtinov."

All three men shook James hand, then Alton gestured to a table with a number of chairs.

"Come sit down Dr. Possible. It may be some time before your wife is through assisting with our teams."

James had a feeling that something was up. He remember Ron calling it is "wierdar". He took a chair and looked at the three men and Dr. Director. He turned to face Betty.

"Okay, I might be the epitome of the absent-minded professor, but when my wife and I are called off vacation by some men one of which gave a code word that very few people know to use and can only be used in certain situations. Then I am escorted into a room where I am met by I assume someone from Britain, the States and Russia. A very special young man in my past would say that the stitch was several miles of bad road."

Dr. Director sighed.

"I know that this might seem strange to you. But I think we will be able to answer your hunch. Mr. Covington is very involved with the situation while Mr. Brannigan and Mr. Krashtinov are here because the situation also effects their respective governments."

She nodded and gestured to Alton. Alton reached down to pick up a briefcase that had been sitting unseen on the floor. Opening the briefcase he pulled two manila files out and handed them to Basil. Basil handed them to him. James glanced down at the two files in his hands. They had "Top Secret" all over the covers. There were names on each of the files. One said "Blue Fox" and the other said "Pink Sloth". James searched his memory knowing that he had heard those names before. Then he remembered years before Kimmie had played around with the name in some fad of the time. He opened the file named "Blue Fox".

He took a deep breath for in front of him was a picture of what he would expected his Kimmie-cub would have looked like if-. He continued to read as his breaths started to come quickly and his heart rate rose. Tears started to flow after reading just a bit and he started to get up. Basil placed his hand on his shoulder as he handed him a handkercheif.

"Please James, if you will allow me to call you that. I believe I have a lot to explain, my friends are here because this can effect their respective governments."

James looked over at him.

"H.h. ?"

His eyes went wide and he stood to run toward the door.

"I'll got to tell Ann. She..."

Basil held on to his arm.

"She will know soon enough. It is your daughter that she will be working on."

James sat down hard in his seat.

"But how?"

Dr. Director gestured to Basil.

"I beleive I will let my British freind tell you a story."

* * *

Ann stepped into the operating room after scrubbing up. A nurse helped her with puttin on a gown and gloves. Walking over to the screens where the x-rays were displayed she took a close look. She turned to speak to one of her collegues who had scrubbed up with her.

"Daniel, it looks like you are correct. While the bullet did break through it does not appear to have actually entered the brain. Either it was the angle that it hit or this young lady has the hardest head in human history."

Ann stopped for a moment and took a closer look at one of the other x-rays. This one was of the head and shoulders. She paid particularly close attention to a few of the bones of the shoulder. She thought to herself. Kimmie broke those same bones in a cheerleading accident just as she had started cheering. Ann shook her head. Kim had been gone these many years. She stepped over to the operating table. The young lady was already prepared. Her head was draped and her hair had been shaved off. The open wound lay before her. She held out her hand.

"Okay ladies and gentlemen, let's see if we can help this young lady. Scapel!"

* * *

Ann stripped her bloody gloves and dropped them in the bin. While the operation had been detailed, it had not be very difficult. It had been very detailed. The bullet had struck the young lady's skull at an angle, fractured the skull as much as burrowed a hole through the bone. The bullet had then come to rest just inside the skull. There had been little to no brain damage, though there would be some intercranial pressure. The drugs they were already using would easily handle that. She stepped over to look at the face of the young lady as the nurse undraped her face. Ann's eyes went wide and she when she pulled one of the drapes on the chest back she saw the small birthmark that Kim had been born with. Before she could say anything, two men she thought and had been told were residents observing the operation stepped over and took her arms as she fainted.

Ann opened her eyes to see the concerned eyes of her husband looking down at her.

"James!"

She sat up quickly and wrapped her arms around his neck.

"I saw Kimmie and don't tell me it wasn't I want to know what is going on how did this happen who is responsible."

Before he could answer a voice from the past spoke out.

"James already knows, it is who you think it is and as to who is responsible, I had a part in it but Mr. Covington here had the biggest part."

Ann snapped her eyes in the direction of the voice to see Dr. Director standing with three other men. One of them stepped forward. He spoke with an British accent.

"Doctor Possible, I am Basil Covington, and I am the creator of Blue Fox and Pink Sloth. We have been speaking with your husband and he already knows part of the story. I would like to tell you the entire story. I owe that to Kim and Ron."

Basil stopped as he spoke the two names that he himself had forbidden anyone to ever speak.

"After we talk, you can make a decision. You can become a part of their lives again or as they don't know that they are even here you can remain separate from their lives."

Ann's voice filled with ice.

"Remain separate from their lives. I have lived in hell over the past few years that my only daughter was dead along with a young man I loved as a son. How could you even ask?"

James touched her arm.

"Honey, just listen to them first."

Anne turned her fury toward her husband until she looked into his eyes. They had been married long enough that she could tell a lot by just looking him in the eye. The look they were giving her right now showed a world of pain along with something else. A fear that brought her heart to her throat. There was something to this story that really needed to be told. She turned to the men.

"In the words of my daughter. What's the stitch?"

Ron slowly opened his eyes and looked around. He apparently was in a hospital somewhere. Shifting his weight he tried to see if he could move. His answer was yes he could move, but only at extreme pain to himself. A voice called out from his side.

"Well look who is awake."

He knew then he was on some type of megadrug because that voice belong to one person and one person only and there was no WAY that Mrs. Dr. Anne Possible was in the room.

"Long time no see HENRY."

He turned his head as the speaker had place a lot of emphasis on his name. His eyes nearly bulged out of his head when he looked into the tearful aqua blue eyes of Kim's mom. He started to speak but she put a finger on his lips.

"Shhhh, don't speak quite yet. You have been a busy young man. If the medics had not gotten as much plasma in you as they did we wouldn't be having this conversation."

Ron croaked out.

"KP?"

Anne's chin started to tremble as she heard a voice that she thought she would never hear again. It was an older voice but there was only one Ron Stoppable. She reached over to caress his forehead. All these years and all the things they had been through, they both nearly get killed and his first thought was of her daughter. She sighed as she continued to gaze into those brown eyes.

"She'll be okay. She is resting right now. That Possible hard head of hers helped. I'll make sure that you get to see her as soon as possible."

Ron nodded as he relaxed. Kim was okay that was all that mattered. Another familiar voice came to his ears.

"Well, Ronald. It truly is good to see you."

Ron turned his head to the other side of the bed to see the man he considered to be his second father. Mr. Dr. Possible was standing there. James reached down to take his hand.

"You have certainly grown up. Some friends of yours were telling us what you have been doing all this time. We are certainly proud of both of you."

Ron relaxed and closed his eyes. There will be time for a better reunion later.

Kim's head swam as she lay in her bed. She knew that she had to be in a hospital. The last thing she remembered was the terrorist shooting at her. After that nothing. Opening her eyes, she turned her head to see Ron sitting next to her bed. Her heart flew to see that he was alright. She raised her hand to him. Ron saw her moving and grabbed her hand.

"Hi there pretty eyes. You have been asleep for awhile. But the docs say you'll be alright. There is someone here to see you."

He looked over to the other side of her bed. She slowly turned her head to see her mom and dad standing there, tears flowing from their eyes. Tears started to flow from Kim's eyes.

"Momma, Daddy?"

Anne's composure broke at the sound of her daughter's voice. She rushed her daughter's side and gathered her in her arms shuddering as she cried.

"Oh my baby, my baby."

Ron quickly stepped away so James could slid to his daughter's bedside. Kim reached out to gather both of her parents in a hug. All three crying so hard they could not talk. Ron stepped out of the room. This was a time for the three of them.

Betty met him outside.

"Henry, Basil and I would like to speak to you."

Ron fell into step beside her. She walked down the hall and entered another door. He could see it was a meeting room for doctors and families of patients. Covington sat in one of the seats on the other side of a small table. He gestured to the seat across from him. Betty took a seat beside Covington.

"Henry, we kept tabs on your family for security purposes. We didn't want you meeting them by accident. As the situation of the parents has changed with Karen's parents here we thought you deserved an update."

Basil hesitated for a moment.

"As you have been told your parents emigrated to Israel within the year after your "death". They lived there quite happily having put your "death" behind them. They were quite honored in the area where they lived as they were known as the parents of the famous hero "Ron Stoppable". They took your work to heart and worked tirelessly to help those in the area where they lived. This regretfully brought them in the spotlight of persons who did not wish to have any type of hero around. A terrorist group in that area exploded a bomb in their car. We have only recently made a full connection to the person to planted the bomb that killed them. Do you remembered the man you shot when you were after Habari?"

Ron nodded. The young man's faces was burned into his memory.

"That was the man responsible for your parent's deaths. He was with his brother as a reward for his first successful bombing."

Ron stood up and walked to a nearby window. Tears flowing from his eyes.

"How good is this information?"

Basil held up the file.

"We only just learned of the connection while we were researching the results of your last mission. Habari's group was decimated by this last action and the rest of his group has struggled to reorganize. They have not been as concerned by security as they rebuilt and this made it easier for us to infiltrate the organization. One of our operatives has been able to fully access the records of the group and found out the connection to your parents."

Ron nodded as Basil finished.

"Thank you for letting me know. I'm going back to be with the only family I have left and God help anyone who tries to get between us or hurt them."

Before Basil or Betty could reply Ron walked out of the room. Betty stared at the closed door after Ron had left.

"Do you really think it was wise to tell him? He may go after the rest of the group."

Covington shook his head.

"Nope, he didn't go off after Karen with orders or planning. He will not now. Those two have already damaged the group almost beyond repair. Our operative will keep a check on them. If they decided to cause a problem I'll just give him the mission to take them out."

Betty snorted.

"That could get really ugly."

Covington shrugged his shoulders.

"We are in an ugly business. Yet those two are our best chance to clean up of part of it."

Ron reached the door to Kim's room and listened for a moment. The sound of soft conversation came to his ears. He knocked. Kim's voice came to his ears.

"Come in."

Ron pushed open the door and stepped into the room. The head of Kim's bed was raised while Anne sat on the side of the bed. James was sitting in a chair beside his daughter's bed. He quickly wiped a tear from his face as he walked across the room.

"Karen. How are you feeling?"

Kim smiled that smile that caused his heart to race.

"Better now that you are here."

Anne took a second to look at her daughter's face when Ron came into the room. There was no doubt in the change. Even though she was happy to see them, there was a sense of completeness, a sense of contentment crossing her face when he came in.

Ron smiled as he crossed the room to stand at the side of the bed. James immediately got up and gestured for him to take his chair.

"Have a seat Rona..., uh … Henry."

Ron placed his hand on James shoulder as he passed to sit down.

"Don't worry .P. It took us a little while to get used to it."

James turned and gathered Ron into a large hug.

"We have missed you son."

Kim squeezed her mom's hand.

"Mom, you haven't given me the full story as to why you are here."

Before Anne could answer there was a knock at the door and Covington opened the door.

"May I come in?"

Kim and Ron nodded.

Covington stepped into the room pulling in a chair. He took a seat and motioned for Anne and James to do the same. James picked up an extra chair in the room while Anne took her seat not letting go of Kim's hand.

"Karen, Henry. I am sure you were both shocked to see Anne and James here and that they had some knowledge as to your activities. One of the reasons they were brought in was that we didn't know your full condition and we were not about to lose you. If we had to bring them in to save your life then we would deal with the security of the situation."

Anne faced Covington.

"What happens now?"

Covington looked straight at Kim and Ron.

"That is completely up to Fox and Sloth. We have discussed some ideas with both the American and Russian governments to in so many words "bring them back to life". They could go back and attempt to regain their lives as before. However, their lives as agents would effectively be over. The sensation of them being found alive would negate the chance of them ever being able to do missions. Not that that would be bad. This last mission nearly costs them their lives. They could go back to a relatively calm life."

He paused for a moment.

"They could also return to the lives they have known for the last few years. This would mean any contact would have to cleared through the governments and even then contact would have to be limited."

Tears started to trail from Anne's eyes and she looked down at her daughter.

"Kimmie?"

Kim reached over and took Ron's hand.

"Mom, dad, Henry and I had a little discussion before we disappeared. We knew that it would hurt a lot of people to leave. But, it would also set us up perfectly to stop the bad guys. If they think we were dead then they would not expect us to try and stop them. I know this hurts, but I think I speak for Henry and myself but I think we will stay with what we are doing. I know it hurts but, this is our life now. I love you, but this is the only way."

James turned to stand up and look down at his daughter.

"Now wait a minute Kimmi..."

Kim's voice came firm interrupting her father.

"Excuse me for interrupting Daddy, but your Kimmie-cub "died" years ago. I love you but that is a life I left behind. I can't tell you all the reasons but I left Kim Possible behind. This was the only way that I can keep you and everyone else safe."

James stopped with tears pouring from his eyes.

"But we just found you again."

Kim smiled.

"That is true, and I am sure we can make use of the time that we have."

Kim turned to Ron.

"Henry have you thought of seeing about your parents?"

Ron started to shake as he bowed his head. Kim squeezed his hand.

"Henry?"

Ron raised his head and looked at Kim with a face so full of sorrow that it broke her heart. It was then that he told Kim and her parents the story of his family. When he finished he lay forward on Kim's bed. Kim pulled her to him and cradled his head on her chest. Anne and James quickly made their way around the bed to join in holding on to him. Tears were shed by all.

* * *

Kim and Ron waited in a small side room in the White House. It had been more than a month since their last mission. The results of their last mission had worldwide consequences. The Russian government was a little embarrassed that one of their nukes nearly ended up in the hands of people that they really didn't want of have one. All countries were putting even more restrictions on their weapons and there was a major push among the members of the United Nations for further nuclear weapon restrictions. Kim's parents returned to the U.S. sworn on their own lives not to reveal that the two of them were still alive. It had taken them sometime to recover from their injuries and Kim's hair was just starting to grow back good. It would take several months for her hair to grow back to the length she liked but that was okay. The doctors had cleared them for duty again but no missions had come along. They had be secretly shuttled into the White House on this day to meet the President.

They were wondering when someone might come to get them when the door opened and Brannagan motioned for them to follow him. They were ushered down several halls until they entered the room they both recognized as the Oval Office. The President walked over to greet them.

"Henry, Karen, please allow me to welcome you to the White House. It is a pleasure to meet you. Mr. Brannagan, do you have the awards?"

Brannagan handed two folders to the President. He took them and faced Kim and Ron.

"Karen, Henry, although you are not publicly citizen's of the United States. I have signed special executive orders recognizing you alive and citizen's of this country. Know that at whatever time that you desire you may return to this country to receive the accolades that you so richly deserve. In addition to that order, you are recognized as ex-officio members of the CIA. In recognition of your service in your last mission you are hereby awarded each an Intelligence Star and an Exception Service Medal. Karen, Henry, the United States government thanks you."

Kim and Ron took the certificates as the President handed them to them. He stepped back and saluted both of them. They looked around the room and noticed every military officer in the room was at attention saluting them.

* * *

Kim sighed as the car they were in pulled up to a hangar at a U.S. base in England. They were getting tired of all the traveled and well-meaning accolades from the U.S. and Russia. They appreciated the thoughts but could not forget that the prior governments of those nations had ruined their lives as they knew them. Now they hoped that this was at least a briefing for a new mission. Covington had told them that this meeting was important. Ron stopped the car at the front of the darkened hanger and got out of the car as Kim did the same on the other side. They shrugged their shoulders before they entered the small door of the hangar. As soon as they entered they were shocked as bright lights came on amid loud cheering. As their eyes adjusted to the light and their ears rang from the noise they looked around to see the makings of a rather large party. A large banner hung across the room with the words "Thanks to the Fox and the Sloth". Two groups of men approached them and saluted. They recognized the two groups of soldiers who assisted them on the mission against Brotherson. The Russian and U.S. Special Forces soldiers held the salute for a moment then broke into cheers as they rushed forward to gather the two of them up onto their shoulders. They were carried toward several tables of food and large cake and a rather large bar with everything thing to drink one could think of including several kegs of beer.

* * *

Kim rolled blearily over in her bed back in their apartment. She waited for a moment then covered her mouth and ran for the bathroom. After a few moments she stumbled back into the room and fell on the bed. She noticed that her hair was rather sticky and she had a very sweet smell around her. She then noticed Ron was lying face down on his bed looking slightly green.

"What did we do?" She moaned.

Ron groaned.

"I think we set world records at the biggest combined party in the history of U.S. Russian relations. If someone mentions to me vodka or bourbon whiskey anytime in the near future I will hurt them badly."

Kim moaned.

"I did really get on top of the main table and do a swan dive into the giant cake they had?"

Ron nodded and belched.

"Yep, they all gave you a ten for the dive. Did I really get into an eating contest with both squads?"

Kim moaned as she rolled over in the bed.

"Yep, there was a special table of the hottest sauces know to man. You beat both squads."

Ron moaned.

"Hurray for me. Ohh...oh boy..."

He got up and ran for the bathroom shutting the door behind him. Kim could hear him muttering.

"Why do they make belts and zippers so complicated?"

She heard a slamming sound of the toilet seat being put into position. There was quiet for a moment until she heard.

"Oh...oh... it burns gosh almighty it burns."

Kim's stomach gurgled again.

"Oh...mannnn..HENRY YOU BETTER GET OUT OF THERE IF YOU DON'T WANT COMPANY!"

* * *

I'll leave Kim and Ron to their misery for now. The mission is over and they are recovering from both the mission and the party. Now Anne and James know that they are alive. Will they become part of the team or will they stay away? Only time will tell.

I must say that it has taken a little time to work this chapter out. The main thing was the appearance of Kim's parents and what part they would have. I thought long and hard about and thought that it would help the story. I also concluded that Kim and Ron would not go back to the U.S. and would stay as operatives.

I hope that you enjoyed this installment of "The Fox and the Sloth".


End file.
